Disease-associated microglia signature genes are up-regulated during photoreceptor degeneration

Retinal degeneration is a collection of devastating conditions with progressive loss of vision which often lead to blindness. Research on retinal microglial cells offers great therapeutic potential in deterring the progression of the condition. This study explored the mechanisms underlying the TREM2-mediated protective function of activated microglial cells during retinal degeneration. A significant upregulation of disease-associated microglia signature genes was observed during photoreceptor degeneration. RNA-Seq on whole-retina samples from rd10 and wild-type mouse retina. Two biological replicates of each.视网膜变性是一类具有毁灭性的眼科疾病，会引发视力进行性丧失，最终常导致失明。针对视网膜小胶质细胞（retinal microglial cells）的研究，在延缓该疾病进展方面展现出巨大的治疗潜力。本研究探究了视网膜变性进程中，激活型小胶质细胞经由髓系细胞触发受体2（TREM2）介导的保护功能的潜在分子机制。研究人员在光感受器变性过程中，观察到疾病相关小胶质细胞特征基因出现显著上调表达。本研究对rd10小鼠与野生型小鼠的全视网膜样本开展了RNA测序（RNA-Seq），每组设置两个生物学重复样本。