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Editors Selection IGR 18-4
Basic Science: RGCs and their axons
Comment by Richard Libby on:
54501 Retinal ganglion cells: Energetics, compartmentation, axonal transport, cytoskeletons and vulnerability, Yu DY; Cringle SJ; Balaratnasingam C et al., Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, 2013; 36: 217-246
The reason(s) retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are susceptible to elevated ocular hypertension remains unclear. Yu and colleagues provide an in-depth review describing the importance of energy homeostasis in maintaining RGC viability. Given the fact that RGCs are projection neurons that consume large amounts of energy and their particular susceptibility to mitochondriopathies, energy homeostasis is likely to play a critical role in determining the susceptibility of RGCs to pathological insults and aging.
RGCs are projection neurons that consume large amounts of energy and are particularly susceptibie to mitochondriopathies
This review is also timely, given recent work by several groups demonstrating changes in mitochondria during an ocular hypertensive insult. The first half of the review is an extremely wellresearched analysis of the energy requirements of RGCs and describes how there is 'non-homogenous energy distribution and consumption in RGCs'. Importantly, Yu and colleagues describe the energy requirements of the different subcompartments of RGCs (e.g., soma, prelamina axon segment; aptly described by the authors as microcompartments). Assessing differences in energy homeostasis in distinct RGC microcompartments is of interest since there is experimental data showing early molecular and/or structural changes are restricted to different microcompartments during an ocular hypertensive insult. This part of the review is perhaps the most extensive discussion of RGC energy requirements available and in and of itself make this an important work. The second half of the review focuses on interactions between ocular hypertension, the cytoskeleton, and energy homeostasis. In this section the authors provide an extensive analysis of how these three components interact in different RGC microcompartments and how these events could determine RGC viability. This section includes an in-depth discussion about axons in the lamina region as well as other components around the lamina. Overall, this is a comprehensive review of the energy requirements of different RGC compartments, its impact on RGCs responses to IOP elevation and the myriad effects it has on RGCs. Furthermore, this review provides fresh insight into several key topics that are relevant not only to glaucoma researchers but to all groups interested in RGC physiology and other optic neuropathies.
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