TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bielmeier, Christina B.
A1  - Roth, Saskia
A1  - Schmitt, Sabrina I.
A1  - Boneva, Stefaniya K.
A1  - Schlecht, Anja
A1  - Vallon, Mario
A1  - Tamm, Ernst R.
A1  - Ergün, Süleyman
A1  - Neueder, Andreas
A1  - Braunger, Barbara M.
T1  - Transcriptional profiling identifies upregulation of neuroprotective pathways in retinitis pigmentosa
T2  - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
N2  - Hereditary retinal degenerations like retinitis pigmentosa (RP) are among the leading causes of blindness in younger patients. To enable in vivo investigation of cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for photoreceptor cell death and to allow testing of therapeutic strategies that could prevent retinal degeneration, animal models have been created. In this study, we deeply characterized the transcriptional profile of mice carrying the transgene rhodopsin V20G/P23H/P27L (VPP), which is a model for autosomal dominant RP. We examined the degree of photoreceptor degeneration and studied the impact of the VPP transgene-induced retinal degeneration on the transcriptome level of the retina using next generation RNA sequencing (RNASeq) analyses followed by weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA). We furthermore identified cellular subpopulations responsible for some of the observed dysregulations using in situ hybridizations, immunofluorescence staining, and 3D reconstruction. Using RNASeq analysis, we identified 9256 dysregulated genes and six significantly associated gene modules in the subsequently performed WGCNA. Gene ontology enrichment showed, among others, dysregulation of genes involved in TGF-β regulated extracellular matrix organization, the (ocular) immune system/response, and cellular homeostasis. Moreover, heatmaps confirmed clustering of significantly dysregulated genes coding for components of the TGF-β, G-protein activated, and VEGF signaling pathway. 3D reconstructions of immunostained/in situ hybridized sections revealed retinal neurons and Müller cells as the major cellular population expressing representative components of these signaling pathways. The predominant effect of VPP-induced photoreceptor degeneration pointed towards induction of neuroinflammation and the upregulation of neuroprotective pathways like TGF-β, G-protein activated, and VEGF signaling. Thus, modulation of these processes and signaling pathways might represent new therapeutic options to delay the degeneration of photoreceptors in diseases like RP.
KW  - retinitis pigmentosa
KW  - VPP mouse model
KW  - in-situ hybridization
KW  - neurodegeneration
KW  - neuroinflammation
KW  - extracellular matrix disorganisation
KW  - neuroprotective pathways
Y1  - 2021
UR  - https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/26076
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260769
SN  - 1422-0067
VL  - 22
IS  - 12
ER  -