Amacrine cells suppress retinal ganglion cells survival and optic nerve regeneration bu releasing intersynaptic zinc

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) convey the major output of information collected from the eye to the brain. RGCs are irreversibly lost when injured in degenerative diseases such as glaucoma; this failure can be partially reversed by eliminating the retinal mobile zinc (Zn2+) and leads to substantial axon regeneration. ZnT3 conditional knockout in retinal amacrine cells blocks the synaptic transport of Zn2+, which promotes RGC survival and axonal regeneration in optic nerve jinjury (ONC). Here, we conducted an mRNA sequencing of flow cytometry-isolated RGCs 3 days after optic nerve injury with or without ZnT3 expression in retinal amacrine cells. Ctrl: RGCs isolated from normal intact wild type retinas ONC: RGCs isolated from optic nerve crush wild type retinas CKO: RGCs isolated from optic nerve crush retinas with ZnT3 conditional knockout in amacrine cells