Cheng Ying, Gu Sihan, Lu Xueqing, Pei Cheng
Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Biomolecules. 2025 Aug 4;15(8):1120. doi: 10.3390/biom15081120.
The eye, a complex organ essential for visual perception, is composed of diverse cell populations with specialized functions; however, the complex interplay between these cellular components and their underlying molecular mechanisms remains largely elusive. Traditional biotechnologies, such as bulk RNA sequencing and in vitro models, are limited in capturing cellular heterogeneity or accurately mimicking the complexity of human ophthalmic diseases. The advent of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has revolutionized ocular research by enabling high-resolution analysis at the single-cell level, uncovering cellular heterogeneity, and identifying disease-specific gene profiles. In this review, we provide a review of scRNA-seq application advancement in ocular physiology and pathology, highlighting its role in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of various ocular diseases, including myopia, ocular surface and corneal diseases, glaucoma, uveitis, retinal diseases, and ocular tumors. By providing novel insights into cellular diversity, gene expression dynamics, and cell-cell interactions, scRNA-seq has facilitated the identification of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and the further integration of scRNA-seq with other omics technologies holds promise for deepening our understanding of ocular health and diseases.
眼睛是视觉感知所必需的复杂器官，由具有特殊功能的多种细胞群组成；然而，这些细胞成分之间复杂的相互作用及其潜在的分子机制在很大程度上仍不清楚。传统生物技术，如批量RNA测序和体外模型，在捕捉细胞异质性或准确模拟人类眼科疾病的复杂性方面存在局限性。单细胞RNA测序（scRNA-seq）的出现彻底改变了眼科研究，它能够在单细胞水平上进行高分辨率分析，揭示细胞异质性，并识别疾病特异性基因谱。在本综述中，我们回顾了scRNA-seq在眼生理学和病理学中的应用进展，强调了其在阐明各种眼科疾病分子机制中的作用，这些疾病包括近视、眼表和角膜疾病、青光眼、葡萄膜炎、视网膜疾病和眼肿瘤。通过提供关于细胞多样性、基因表达动态和细胞间相互作用的新见解，scRNA-seq促进了新型生物标志物和治疗靶点的识别，并且scRNA-seq与其他组学技术的进一步整合有望加深我们对眼部健康和疾病的理解。
