You are here
Single Cell Transcriptome Analysis of Regenerating RGCs Reveals Potent Glaucoma Neural Repair Genes
![application/pdf PDF icon](/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png)
Speakers
Abstract
Axon regeneration holds great promise for neural repair of CNS axonopathies, including glaucoma. Pten deletion in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) promotes potent optic nerve (ON) 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 ON crush injury, in which they differ only in their regeneration capability. Smart-Seq2 single cell transcriptome analysis revealed multiple novel regeneration-associated genes that significantly promote axon regeneration. More strikingly, some of the axon regeneration genes 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.