Aging Reprograms the Rhythmic Transcriptome in the Retina

Aging is a significant risk factor for various retinal degenerative diseases. However, its impact on diurnal transcriptional profile of the retina remains largely unexplored. Addressing this knowledge gap is crucial given the rising prevalence of age-related retinal diseases. We conducted high-throughput RNA sequencing on retinal samples collected at 4-hour intervals (n = 24 per group) from young (6-week-old) and aged (20-month-old) C57BL/6 mice maintained under a 12h:12h light-dark cycle. Differential expression analysis was performed using edgeR (FDR < 0.05, |FC| > 1.5). Rhythmicity analysis was conducted using the MetaCycle package, which integrates JTK_CYCLE and Lomb-Scargle algorithms, while differential rhythmicity analysis was performed using the CircaCompare package.