Transcriptome analysis of Chrdl1-treated RGCs
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Rattus norvegicus
PROVIDER: GSE108484 | GEO | 2018/10/29
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Since retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) do not regenerate after injury, RGC replacement therapy could provide an approach to vision restoration in glaucoma and other optic neuropathies. Here we developed a rapid protocol for direct induction of RGC (iRGC) differentiation from human iPSCs and ESCs in less than two weeks, by overexpression of NGN2 in RGC survival-promoting medium supplemented with a Notch inhibitor. Neuronal morphology and neurite growth were observed within one week of induction. Immunostaining and qRT-PCR for characteristic RGC-specific genes confirmed identity. Calcium imaging was used to evaluate iRGCs’ electrophysiologic maturation, and demonstrated GABA-induced excitatory calcium influx characteristic of immature RGCs. Using single cell-RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) we further delineated iRGCs’ differentiation and compared iRGC transcriptomic profiles to fetal human and retinal organoid-derived RGCs. Unbiased clustering showed high similarities of transcriptomic profiles among iRGCs, early-stage fetal human RGCs and early-stage retinal organoid-derived RGCs. However, for some markers, including BRN3a, BRN3b and NEFL, iRGCs demonstrated expression patterns more similar to fetal RGCs than to retinal organoid RGCs. After intravitreal injection into rodent eyes, transplanted iRGCs survived and migrated into host retinas where they were detected one week and one month after transplant. Prior optic nerve trauma to the recipient host did not significantly enhance or detract from iRGC integration, but iRGCs protected host RGCs from neurodegeneration. Taken together, these data demonstrate rapid iRGC generation in vitro into an immature cell with high similarity to human fetal RGCs and capacity for retinal integration after transplant, including after optic nerve injury. The simplicity of this system may benefit translational studies on human RGCs.
2022-04-10 | GSE200452 | GEO
Project description:Analysis of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) by scRNA-seq is emerging as a state-of-the-art method for studying RGC biology and subtypes, as well as for studying the mechanisms of neuroprotection and axon regeneration in the central nervous system (CNS). Rbpms has been established as a pan-RGC marker, and Spp1 has been established as an αRGC type and macrophage marker. Here, we analyzed by scRNA-seq retinal microglia and macrophages, and found Rbpms+ subpopulations of retinal microglia/macrophages, which pose a potential pitfall in scRNA-seq studies involving RGCs. We performed comparative analysis of cellular identity of the presumed RGC cells isolated in recent scRNA-seq studies, and found that Rbpms+ microglia/macrophages confounded identification of RGCs. We also showed using immunohistological analysis that, Rbpms protein localizes to stress granules in a subpopulation of retinal microglia after optic nerve injury, which was further supported by bioinformatics analysis identifying stress granule-associated genes enriched in the Rbpms+ microglia/macrophages. Our findings suggest that the identification of Rbpms+ RGCs by immunostaining after optic nerve injury should exclude cells in which Rbpms signal is restricted to a subcellular granule, and include only those cells in which the Rbpms signal is labeling cell soma diffusely. Finally, we provide solutions for circumventing this potential pitfall of Rbpm-expressing microglia/macrophages in scRNA-seq studies, by including in RGC and αRGC selection criteria other pan-RGC and αRGC markers.
2023-05-23 | GSE228986 | GEO
Project description:The lack of neuroprotective treatments for retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and optic nerve (ON) is a central challenge for glaucoma management. Emerging evidence suggests that redox factor NAD+ decline is a hallmark of aging and neurodegenerative diseases including glaucoma. Supplementation with NAD+ precursors and overexpression of the nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (NMNAT), the key enzyme involved in the NAD+ biosynthetic process, have significant neuroprotection effect on glaucoma. Among the three NMNAT isoforms, only NMNAT2 is enriched in neurons, especially in axons, however, its role in glaucoma is not well studied. Here we present the expression levels of the enzymes that involved in NAD+ metabolism in both naïve and glaucomatous mouse RGCs. Intriguingly, NMNAT2 is the dominant form of NMNATs in RGCs and only its mRNA level, but not NMNAT1 or NMNAT3, is significant decreased in glaucomatous RGCs. We then demonstrated proof-of-principal gene therapy strategy of restoring RGC-specific NMNAT2 and NAD+ levels by AAV2-mediated RGC-specific promoter mSncg-driven long half-life NMNAT2 mutant. This gene therapy strategy is further tested in two optic neuropathy models, traumatic ON crush model and ocular hypertension glaucoma model. RGC-specific NMNAT2 overexpression significantly promotes RGC somata and axons survival and preserves visual function in both models. Our studies suggest that the weaking of NMNAT2 expression in glaucomatous RGCs contributes to detrimental NAD+ decline and that modulating RGC intrinsic NMNAT2 level by AAV2-mSncg vector is a potent gene therapy for glaucomatous neuroprotection.
2021-08-22 | GSE182483 | GEO
Project description:Visual information is conveyed from the eye to the brain by distinct types of Retinal Ganglion Cells (RGCs). It is largely unknown how RGCs acquire their defining morphological and physiological features and connect to upstream and downstream synaptic partners. The three Brn3/Pou4f transcription factors (TFs) participate in the combinatorial code for RGC type specification but their exact molecular roles are still unclear. We use deep sequencing to define (i) transcriptomes of Brn3a and/or Brn3b positive RGCs, (ii) Brn3a and/or Brn3b dependent RGC transcripts and (iii) transcriptomes of retinorecipient areas of the brain at developmental stages relevant for axon guidance, dendrite formation and synaptogenesis. We reveal a combinatorial code of transcription factors, adhesion molecules and determinants of neuronal morphology that are differentially expressed in specific RGC populations and selectively regulated by Brn3a and/or Brn3b. This comprehensive molecular code provides a basis for understanding neuronal cell type specification in RGCs.
2017-04-24 | GSE87647 | GEO
Project description:Axon regeneration holds great promise for neural repair of CNS axonopathies, including glaucoma. Pten deletion in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) promotes potent optic nerve regeneration, but only a small population of Pten-null RGCs are actually regenerating RGCs (regRGCs); most surviving RGCs (surRGCs) remain non-regenerative. Here we developed a strategy to specifically label and purify regRGCs and surRGCs respectively from the same Pten deletion mice after optic nerve crush, in which they differ only in their regeneration capability. Smart-Seq2 single cell transcriptome analysis revealed novel regeneration-associated genes that significantly promote axon regeneration. The most potent of these, Anxa2, acts synergistically with its ligand tPA in Pten deletion-induced axon regeneration. Anxa2, its downstream effector ILK, and Mpp1 dramatically protect RGC somata and axons and preserves visual function in a clinically relevant model of glaucoma, demonstrating the exciting potential of this innovative strategy to identify novel effective neural repair candidates.
2022-08-20 | GSE206625 | GEO
Project description:Axon regeneration holds great promise for neural repair of CNS axonopathies, including glaucoma. Pten deletion in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) promotes potent optic nerve regeneration, but only a small population of Pten-null RGCs are actually regenerating RGCs (regRGCs); most surviving RGCs (surRGCs) remain non-regenerative. Here we developed a strategy to specifically label and purify regRGCs and surRGCs respectively from the same Pten deletion mice after optic nerve crush, in which they differ only in their regeneration capability. Smart-Seq2 single cell transcriptome analysis revealed novel regeneration-associated genes that significantly promote axon regeneration. The most potent of these, Anxa2, acts synergistically with its ligand tPA in Pten deletion-induced axon regeneration. Anxa2, its downstream effector ILK, and Mpp1 dramatically protect RGC somata and axons and preserves visual function in a clinically relevant model of glaucoma, demonstrating the exciting potential of this innovative strategy to identify novel effective neural repair candidates.
2022-08-20 | GSE206624 | GEO
Project description:Axon regeneration holds great promise for neural repair of CNS axonopathies, including glaucoma. Pten deletion in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) promotes potent optic nerve regeneration, but only a small population of Pten-null RGCs are actually regenerating RGCs (regRGCs); most surviving RGCs (surRGCs) remain non-regenerative. Here we developed a strategy to specifically label and purify regRGCs and surRGCs respectively from the same Pten deletion mice after optic nerve crush, in which they differ only in their regeneration capability. Smart-Seq2 single cell transcriptome analysis revealed novel regeneration-associated genes that significantly promote axon regeneration. The most potent of these, Anxa2, acts synergistically with its ligand tPA in Pten deletion-induced axon regeneration. Anxa2, its downstream effector ILK, and Mpp1 dramatically protect RGC somata and axons and preserves visual function in a clinically relevant model of glaucoma, demonstrating the exciting potential of this innovative strategy to identify novel effective neural repair candidates.
2022-08-20 | GSE206623 | GEO
Project description:Axon regeneration holds great promise for neural repair of CNS axonopathies, including glaucoma. Pten deletion in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) promotes potent optic nerve regeneration, but only a small population of Pten-null RGCs are actually regenerating RGCs (regRGCs); most surviving RGCs (surRGCs) remain non-regenerative. Here we developed a strategy to specifically label and purify regRGCs and surRGCs respectively from the same Pten deletion mice after optic nerve crush, in which they differ only in their regeneration capability. Smart-Seq2 single cell transcriptome analysis revealed novel regeneration-associated genes that significantly promote axon regeneration. The most potent of these, Anxa2, acts synergistically with its ligand tPA in Pten deletion-induced axon regeneration. Anxa2, its downstream effector ILK, and Mpp1 dramatically protect RGC somata and axons and preserves visual function in a clinically relevant model of glaucoma, demonstrating the exciting potential of this innovative strategy to identify novel effective neural repair candidates.
2022-08-20 | GSE206622 | GEO
Project description:We report the genome-wide RNA sequencing changes to isolated retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) from immunopanned embryonic day 18 (E18) and early postnatal (P5) wildtype mouse retinas. We report the transcriptomic change associated with RGCs in a survival and regenerative state, and use gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to predict the upstream transcription factors likely regulating these observed changes.
2022-10-04 | GSE156305 | GEO
Project description:The neuronal cell death results in neurodegenerative diseases. The extracellular environment plays a critical role in regulating cell viability. In this study, we explore how intercellular communication contributes to the survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) following the optic nerve crush (ONC). By performing single-cell RNA-seq on whole retinal cells, we observed transcriptomic responses in non-RGC retinal cells to the injury, with astrocytes and Müller glia having the most interactions with RGCs. By comparing the RGC subclasses showing distinct resilience cell death, we identified top 47 interactions that are stronger in the high-survival RGCs, likely representing neuroprotective interactions. We performed functional assays on one of the receptors, Mu-opioid receptor (Oprm1). Although Oprm1 is preferentially expressed in intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), its neuroprotective effect could be transferred to multiple RGC subclasses by specific overexpressing Oprm1 in pan-RGCs. Our study provides an atlas of cell-cell interactions in both intact and post-ONC retina and an effective strategy to predict molecular mechanisms in neuroprotection, underlying the principal role played by extracellular environment in supporting neuron survival.
2023-10-01 | GSE241268 | GEO