Roesch Karin, Jadhav Ashutosh P, Trimarchi Jeffrey M, Stadler Michael B, Roska Botond, Sun Ben B, Cepko Constance L
Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
J Comp Neurol. 2008 Jul 10;509(2):225-38. doi: 10.1002/cne.21730.
Müller glial cells are the major type of glia in the mammalian retina. To identify the molecular machinery that defines Müller glial cell identity and function, single cell gene expression profiling was performed on Affymetrix microarrays. Identification of a cluster of genes expressed at high levels suggests a Müller glia core transcriptome, which likely underlies many of the functions of Müller glia. Expression of components of the cell cycle machinery and the Notch pathway, as well as of growth factors, chemokines, and lipoproteins might allow communication between Müller glial cells and the neurons that they support, including modulation of neuronal activity. This approach revealed a set of transcripts that were not previously characterized in (Müller) glia; validation of the expression of some of these genes was performed by in situ hybridization. Genes expressed exclusively by Müller glia were identified as novel markers. In addition, a novel BAC transgenic mouse that expresses Cre in Müller glia cells was generated. The molecular fingerprint of Müller glia provides a foundation for further studies of Müller glia development and function in normal and diseased states.
缪勒胶质细胞是哺乳动物视网膜中主要的胶质细胞类型。为了确定定义缪勒胶质细胞特性和功能的分子机制,利用Affymetrix微阵列进行了单细胞基因表达谱分析。鉴定出一组高水平表达的基因,提示存在一个缪勒胶质细胞核心转录组,它可能是缪勒胶质细胞许多功能的基础。细胞周期机制和Notch信号通路的成分以及生长因子、趋化因子和脂蛋白的表达,可能使缪勒胶质细胞与其所支持的神经元之间实现通讯,包括对神经元活动的调节。该方法揭示了一组以前未在(缪勒)胶质细胞中表征的转录本;通过原位杂交对其中一些基因的表达进行了验证。仅由缪勒胶质细胞表达的基因被鉴定为新型标志物。此外,还构建了一种在缪勒胶质细胞中表达Cre的新型BAC转基因小鼠。缪勒胶质细胞的分子指纹为进一步研究正常和患病状态下缪勒胶质细胞的发育和功能奠定了基础。