Hack Samantha J, Petereit Juli, Tseng Kelly Ai-Sun
Department of Biological Sciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA.
Nevada Bioinformatics Center, University of Nevada, Reno.
bioRxiv. 2024 Jul 22:2024.07.20.603187. doi: 10.1101/2024.07.20.603187.
Retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) are a multipotent and highly proliferative population that give rise to all retinal cell types during organogenesis. Defining their molecular signature is a key step towards identifying suitable approaches to treat visual impairments. Here, we performed RNA-sequencing of whole eyes from at three embryonic stages and used differential expression analysis to define the transcriptomic profiles of optic tissues containing proliferating and differentiating RPCs during retinogenesis. Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway analyses showed that genes associated with developmental pathways (including Wnt and Hedgehog signaling) were upregulated during the period of active RPC proliferation in early retinal development (Nieuwkoop Faber st. 24 and 27). Developing eyes had dynamic expression profiles and shifted to enrichment for metabolic processes and phototransduction during RPC progeny specification and differentiation (st. 35). Furthermore, conserved adult eye regeneration genes were also expressed during early retinal development including , , , and Notch signaling components. The eye transcriptomic profiles presented here span RPC proliferation to retinogenesis and included regrowth-competent stages. Thus, our dataset provides a rich resource to uncover molecular regulators of RPC activity and will allow future studies to address regulators of RPC proliferation during eye repair and regrowth.
视网膜祖细胞（RPCs）是一类多能且高度增殖的细胞群体，在器官发生过程中可产生所有视网膜细胞类型。确定它们的分子特征是找到治疗视力障碍合适方法的关键一步。在此，我们对三个胚胎阶段的全眼进行了RNA测序，并使用差异表达分析来确定视网膜发育过程中包含增殖和分化RPCs的视神经组织的转录组图谱。基因本体论和KEGG通路分析表明，在视网膜早期发育（Nieuwkoop Faber第24和27阶段）RPC活跃增殖期间，与发育途径（包括Wnt和Hedgehog信号通路）相关的基因上调。在RPC子代特化和分化过程（第35阶段），发育中的眼睛具有动态表达谱，并转向富集代谢过程和光转导相关基因。此外，包括、、和Notch信号成分在内的保守的成年眼再生基因在视网膜早期发育过程中也有表达。这里呈现的眼睛转录组图谱涵盖了RPC增殖到视网膜形成的过程，包括具备再生能力的阶段。因此，我们的数据集为揭示RPC活性的分子调节因子提供了丰富资源，并将使未来的研究能够探讨眼睛修复和再生过程中RPC增殖的调节因子。
