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Abstract #90611 Published in IGR 21-3
Retinal Ganglion Cells With a Glaucoma OPTN(E50K) Mutation Exhibit Neurodegenerative Phenotypes when Derived from Three-Dimensional Retinal Organoids
VanderWall KB; VanderWall KB; Huang KC; Pan Y; Lavekar SS; Fligor CM; Allsop AR; Lentsch KA; Dang P; Zhang C; Tseng HC; Cummins TR; Meyer JSStem cell reports 2020; 15: 52-66
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) serve as the connection between the eye and the brain, with this connection disrupted in glaucoma. Numerous cellular mechanisms have been associated with glaucomatous neurodegeneration, and useful cellular models of glaucoma allow for the precise analysis of degenerative phenotypes. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) serve as powerful tools for studying human disease, particularly cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration. Thus, efforts focused upon hPSCs with an E50K mutation in the Optineurin (OPTN) gene, a leading cause of inherited forms of glaucoma. CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing introduced the OPTN(E50K) mutation into existing lines of hPSCs, as well as generating isogenic controls from patient-derived lines. RGCs differentiated from OPTN(E50K) hPSCs exhibited numerous neurodegenerative deficits, including neurite retraction, autophagy dysfunction, apoptosis, and increased excitability. These results demonstrate the utility of OPTN(E50K) RGCs as an in vitro model of neurodegeneration, with the opportunity to develop novel therapeutic approaches for glaucoma.
Department of Biology, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Full articleClassification:
2.17 Stem cells (Part of: 2 Anatomical structures in glaucoma)
3.5 Molecular biology incl. SiRNA (Part of: 3 Laboratory methods)
3.4.2 Gene studies (Part of: 3 Laboratory methods > 3.4 Molecular genetics)
11.8 Neuroprotection (Part of: 11 Medical treatment)
