Project description:Rod-derived Cone Viability Factor (RdCVF, alias nxnl1) is a retina-specific protein identified for its therapeutic potential in supporting cone survival during retinal degeneration. A nxnl1 knockout mouse model was created and the transcriptome used to demonstrate that the retina is compromised by the absence of nxnl1. Experiment Overall Design: In total 9 samples were analyzed, they represent three different genotypes (wt/wt, ko/wt, ko/ko) that were tested in triplicate each.
Project description:Retinal degeneration often affects the whole retina even though the disease-causing gene is specifically expressed in the light-sensitive photoreceptors. These retinal defects can potentially be determined by gene-expression profiling of the whole retina. In this study, we measured the gene-expression profile of retinas microdissected from a zebrafish pde6cw59 (pde6c) mutant. Its retinas display not only photoreceptor degeneration but also issues in other cell types starting from 4 days postfertilization (dpf). To capture these initial changes, we subjected pde6c and wild-type (WT) retinas at 5 dpf to RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) on the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. The sequencing analyses indicate that the RNA-Seq dataset was of high quality. We also validated the RNA-Seq results by Reverse Transcription Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) of seven phototransduction genes. We found that the fold changes of these genes measured by RT-qPCR highly correlated to those measured by RNA-Seq. Therefore, our RNA-Seq dataset likely captures the molecular changes in the whole pde6c retina. This dataset will facilitate the characterization of the molecular defects in the pde6c retina at the initial stage of retinal degeneration
Project description:Cone photoreceptors are the primary initiator of visual transduction in the human retina. Dysfunction or death of rod photoreceptors precedes cone loss in many retinal and macular degenerative diseases, suggesting a rod-dependent trophic support for cone survival. Rod differentiation and homeostasis are dependent on the basic motif leucine zipper transcription factor NRL. The loss of Nrl in mice (Nrl-/-) results in a retina with predominantly S-opsin containing cones that exhibit molecular and functional characteristics of WT cones. Here we report that Nrl-/- retina undergoes a rapid but transient period of degeneration in early adulthood, with cone apoptosis, retinal detachment, alterations in retinal vessel structure, and activation and translocation of retinal microglia. However, cone degeneration stabilizes by four months of age, resulting in a thinned but intact outer nuclear layer with residual cones expressing S- and M-opsins and a preserved photopic ERG. At this stage, microglia translocate back to the inner retina and reacquire a quiescent morphology. Gene profiling analysis during the period of transient degeneration reveals misregulation of stress response and inflammation genes, implying their involvement in cone death. The Nrl-/- retina illustrates the long-term viability of cones in the absence of rods and may serve as a model for elucidating mechanisms of cone homeostasis and degeneration that would be relevant to understanding diseases of the cone-dominant human macula. Targets were generated from a pair of retinas (one Nrl-/- mouse) per biological replicate. Four biological replicates were generated for each of the five aging timepoints (1, 2, 4, 6, and 10 months post natal).
Project description:ST2 heterodimerizes with IL-1RAcp to form the receptor for IL-33, which is primarily associated with allergic inflammation by inducing Th2 responses. Recently, however, IL-33 was found to be expressed in the central nervous system and in retinal Muller cells which imply functions, as yet undescribed, beyond Th2 mediated inflammation. Muller cells support the health of the retina and photoreceptors and are also involved in inflammation in retinal degeneration. It is not known how IL-33/ST2 functions in this capacity. We recently found that ST2 ko mice are protected from CLE-induced photoreceptor loss, implying a detrimental effect of IL33/ST2 in CLE. We wish to perform microarray analysis using WT and ST2 KO mice in CLE model to better understand the mechanism by which IL-33/ST2 regulates retinal degeneration. CLE (Constant Light Exposure) is a model of retinal damage/degeneration in mice. Mice are exposed to bright light 24 hours a day for a period of time which damages retina photoreceptors. This damage is assessed by histology, optical coherence tomography (OCT), which measures retina thickness in vivo. In this experiment, the WT and ST2 KO mice (5 mice per genotype per time point) will be exposed to 1200-lux constant light for 0, 3, 10 days. The retinal RNA will be isolated and analyzed for differential gene expression by microarray.
Project description:Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a photoreceptor disease that affects approximately 100,000 people in the United States. There are currently very limited treatment options and the prognosis for most patients is progressive vision loss. Unfortunately, the understanding of the molecular underpinnings of RP initiation and progression is still poorly understood. However, the development of animal models of RP, coupled with high-throughput sequencing, has provided an opportunity to study the underlying cellular and molecular changes of this disease. Using RNA-Seq, we present the first retinal transcriptome analysis of the rd10 murine model of retinal degeneration. RNA-Seq on whole-retina samples from rd10, wild-type and GFP-expressing mouse retina. Three biological replicates of each.
Project description:Photoreceptor disorders are collectively known as retinal degeneration (RD), and include retinitis pigmentosa (RP), cone-rod dystrophy and age related macular degeneration (AMD). These disorders are largely genetic in origin; individual mutations in any one of >200 genes cause RD, making mutation specific therapies prohibitively expensive. A better treatment plan, particularly for late stage disease, may involve stem cell transplants into the photoreceptor or ganglion cell layers of the retina. Stem cells from young mouse retinas can be transplanted, and can form photoreceptors in adult retinas. These cells can be grown in tissue culture, but can no longer form photoreceptors. We have used microarrays to investigate differences in gene expression between cultured retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) that have lost photoreceptor potential, postnatal day 1 (pn1) retinas and the postnatal day 5 (pn5) retinas that contain transplantable photoreceptors. We have also compared FACS sorted Rho-eGFP expressing rod photoreceptors from pn5 retinas with Rho-eGFP negative cells from the same retinas. We have identified over 300 genes upregulated in rod photoreceptor development in multiple comparisons, 37 of which have been previously identified as causative of retinal disease when mutated. It is anticipated that this research should bring us closer to growing photoreceptors in culture and therefore better treatments for RD. This dataset is also a resource for those seeking to identify novel retinopathy genes in RD patients.
Project description:To investigate pathogenic mechanisms in such instances, we have characterized rod photoreceptor and retinal gene expression changes in response to a defined insult to photoreceptor structure, using the retinal degeneration slow (rds) mouse model. Global gene expression profiling was performed on flow-sorted rds and wild-type rod photoreceptors immediately prior and subsequent to times at which OSs are normally elaborated. Dysregulated genes were identified via microarray hybridization, and selected candidates were validated using quantitative PCR analyses. We identified a single key gene, Egr1, that was dysregulated in a sustained fashion in rds rod photoreceptors and in the retina. Egr1 upregulation was associated with microglial activation and migration, into the outer retina at times subsequent to the major peak of photoreceptor cell death. Interestingly, this response was accompanied by neurotrophic factor upregulation. We hypothesize that activation of Egr1 and neurotrophic factors represents a protective immune mechanism, contributing to the characteristically slow retinal degeneration of the rds mouse model. We had two conditions WT and Rds-KO at 4 different time points: postnatal (P) 6, P9, P14 and P21.
Project description:The rd1 mouse retina is a well-studied model of retinal degeneration where rod photoreceptors undergo cell death beginning at postnatal day P10 until P21. This period coincides with photoreceptor terminal differentiation in a normal retina. We have used the rd1 retina as a model to investigate early molecular defects in developing rod photoreceptors prior to the onset of degeneration. Using a microarray approach, we performed gene profiling comparing rd1 and wild type retinas at four time points starting at P2, prior to any obvious biochemical or morphological differences, and concluding at P8, prior to the initiation of cell death. We have identified genes that are differentially regulated in the rd1 retina at early time points, which may give insights into developmental defects that precede photoreceptor cell death. This is the first report of PRA1 expression in the retina. Our data support the hypothesis that PRA1 plays an important role in vesicular trafficking between the Golgi and cilia in differentiating and mature rod photoreceptors. Retinal samples were harvested from both rd1/le and wt animals at postnatal days 2, 4, 6, and 8 for microarray. Each sample included 8-14 retinas and experiments were performed in quadruplicate. Ten micrograms of total RNA was used for cDNA systhesis in target molecule production.
Project description:In inherited retinal disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP), rod photoreceptor-specific mutations cause primary rod degeneration that is followed by secondary cone death and loss of high-acuity vision. Mechanistic studies of retinal degeneration are challenging because of retinal heterogeneity. Moreover, the detection of early cone responses to rod death is especially difficult due to the paucity of cones in the retina. To resolve heterogeneity in the degenerating retina and investigate events in both types of photoreceptors during primary rod degeneration, we utilized droplet-based single-cell RNA sequencing in an RP mouse model, rd10.
Project description:Photoreceptor disorders are collectively known as retinal degeneration (RD), and include retinitis pigmentosa (RP), cone-rod dystrophy and age related macular degeneration (AMD). These disorders are largely genetic in origin; individual mutations in any one of >200 genes cause RD, making mutation specific therapies prohibitively expensive. A better treatment plan, particularly for late stage disease, may involve stem cell transplants into the photoreceptor or ganglion cell layers of the retina. Stem cells from young mouse retinas can be transplanted, and can form photoreceptors in adult retinas. These cells can be grown in tissue culture, but can no longer form photoreceptors. We have used microarrays to investigate differences in gene expression between cultured retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) that have lost photoreceptor potential, postnatal day 1 (pn1) retinas and the postnatal day 5 (pn5) retinas that contain transplantable photoreceptors. We have also compared FACS sorted Rho-eGFP expressing rod photoreceptors from pn5 retinas with Rho-eGFP negative cells from the same retinas. We have identified over 300 genes upregulated in rod photoreceptor development in multiple comparisons, 37 of which have been previously identified as causative of retinal disease when mutated. It is anticipated that this research should bring us closer to growing photoreceptors in culture and therefore better treatments for RD. This dataset is also a resource for those seeking to identify novel retinopathy genes in RD patients. We extracted whole retinas from postnatal day 1 (Pn1) and postnatal day 5 (Pn5) mice, and compared them with cultured RPCs derived from pn5 retinas, using Affymetrix mouse 430A_2 arrays. We also extracted cells from Rho-eGFP Pn5 retinas and FACS sorted them. GFP+ve cells represent immature rod photoreceptors, as they express the Rho-eGFP fusion protein, which is only expressed in rods. GFP-ve cells represent all other retinal neurons. These samples were amplified and compared using Affymetrix mouse 430A_2arrays, by Source Biosciences GMBH, Berlin, Germany. Results from immature rods were then compared with those from other retinal neurons, while results from whole Pn5 retinas were compared with Pn1 retinas (which don't yet express rod specific genes), and RPCs, which are glial precursors. RPCs were also compared with Pn1 retinas. Genes which showed changed expression profiles in at least 3/4 of comparisons were prioritised for further investigation.