@article{BielmeierSchmittKleefeldtetal.2022,
  author    = {Bielmeier, Christina B. and Schmitt, Sabrina I. and Kleefeldt, Nikolai and Boneva, Stefaniya K. and Schlecht, Anja and Vallon, Mario and Tamm, Ernst R. and Hillenkamp, Jost and Erg{\"u}n, S{\"u}leyman and Neueder, Andreas and Braunger, Barbara M.},
  title     = {Deficiency in retinal TGFβ signaling aggravates neurodegeneration by modulating pro-apoptotic and MAP kinase pathways},
  series = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
  volume    = {23},
  journal   = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
  number    = {5},
  issn      = {1422-0067},
  doi       = {10.3390/ijms23052626},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-283971},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) signaling has manifold functions such as regulation of cell growth, differentiation, migration, and apoptosis. Moreover, there is increasing evidence that it also acts in a neuroprotective manner. We recently showed that TGFβ receptor type 2 (Tgfbr2) is upregulated in retinal neurons and M{\"u}ller cells during retinal degeneration. In this study we investigated if this upregulation of TGFβ signaling would have functional consequences in protecting retinal neurons. To this end, we analyzed the impact of TGFβ signaling on photoreceptor viability using mice with cell type-specific deletion of Tgfbr2 in retinal neurons and M{\"u}ller cells (Tgfbr2\(_{ΔOC}\)) in combination with a genetic model of photoreceptor degeneration (VPP). We examined retinal morphology and the degree of photoreceptor degeneration, as well as alterations of the retinal transcriptome. In summary, retinal morphology was not altered due to TGFβ signaling deficiency. In contrast, VPP-induced photoreceptor degeneration was drastically exacerbated in double mutant mice (Tgfbr2\(_{ΔOC}\); VPP) by induction of pro-apoptotic genes and dysregulation of the MAP kinase pathway. Therefore, TGFβ signaling in retinal neurons and M{\"u}ller cells exhibits a neuroprotective effect and might pose promising therapeutic options to attenuate photoreceptor degeneration in humans.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SchlechtWolfBonevaetal.2022,
  author    = {Schlecht, Anja and Wolf, Julian and Boneva, Stefaniya and Prinz, Gabriele and Braunger, Barbara M. and Wieghofer, Peter and Agostini, Hansj{\"u}rgen and Schlunck, G{\"u}nther and Lange, Clemens},
  title     = {Transcriptional and distributional profiling of microglia in retinal angiomatous proliferation},
  series = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
  volume    = {23},
  journal   = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
  number    = {7},
  issn      = {1422-0067},
  doi       = {10.3390/ijms23073443},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284072},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Macular neovascularization type 3, formerly known as retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP), is a hallmark of age-related macular degeneration and is associated with an accumulation of myeloid cells, such as microglia (MG) and infiltrating blood-derived macrophages (MAC). However, the contribution of MG and MAC to the myeloid cell pool at RAP sites and their exact functions remain unknown. In this study, we combined a microglia-specific reporter mouse line with a mouse model for RAP to identify the contribution of MG and MAC to myeloid cell accumulation at RAP and determined the transcriptional profile of MG using RNA sequencing. We found that MG are the most abundant myeloid cell population around RAP, whereas MAC are rarely, if ever, associated with late stages of RAP. RNA sequencing of RAP-associated MG showed that differentially expressed genes mainly contribute to immune-associated processes, including chemotaxis and migration in early RAP and proliferative capacity in late RAP, which was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Interestingly, MG upregulated only a few angiomodulatory factors, suggesting a rather low angiogenic potential. In summary, we showed that MG are the dominant myeloid cell population at RAP sites. Moreover, MG significantly altered their transcriptional profile during RAP formation, activating immune-associated processes and exhibiting enhanced proliferation, however, without showing substantial upregulation of angiomodulatory factors.},
  language  = {en}
}