Retina is composed of a heterogeneous population of cell types, each with a unique biological function. Even if the same type of cells, due to genetic heterogeneity will lead to cell function differences. In the past, traditional molecular biological methods cannot resolve variations in their functional roles that arise from these differences, and some cells are difficult to define due to the lack of specific molecular markers or the scarcity of numbers, which hindered the understanding and research of these cells. With the development of biotechnology, single-cell RNA sequencing can analyze and resolve differences in single-cell transcriptome expression profiles, characterize intracellular population heterogeneity, identify new and rare cell subtypes, and more definitely define the characteristics of each cell type. It clarifies the origin, function, and variations in cell phenotypes. Other attributes include pinpointing both disease-related characteristics of cell subtypes and specific differential gene expression patterns, to deepen our understanding of the causes and progression of diseases, as well as to aid clinical diagnosis and targeted therapy.
ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of form deprivation on the morphology of different types of RGC in mice.MethodsSixty B6.Cg-Tg (Thy1-YFP) HJrs/J transgenic mice were randomly assigned to form-deprived group (n=28) and control group (n=32). The right eyes of mice in the form-deprived group were covered by an occluder for 2 weeks as experimental eyes. The right eyes of mice in the control group were taken as control eyes. Before and 2 weeks after form deprivation, the refraction and ocular biometrics were measured; RGC were stained with Bra3a antibody and counted; the morphology of RGC was reconstructed with Neuroexplore software after immunohistochemical staining. The data was compared among experimental eyes, fellow eyes and control eyes by one-way analysis of variance.ResultsTwo weeks after form deprivation, the axial myopia was observed in the experimental eyes (refraction: F=15.009, P＜0.001; vitreous chamber depth: F=3.360, P=0047; ocluar axial length: F=5.011, P=0013). The number of RGC in central retina of the experimental eyes was decreased compared with the fellow eyes and the control eyes (F=4.769, P=0.035). The reconstructed RGC were classified into 4 types according to their dendritic morphology. Form deprivation affected all 4 types of RGC but in a different way. Among them, 3 types of RGC were likely contribute to form vision perception. Form deprivation increased the dendrite branches in these types of ganglion cells. However, form deprivation decreasd dendrite segment numbers in both eyes and the intersection and length insholl analyse type 4 ganglion cells which were morphologically identified as ipRGC.ConclusionForm deprivation distinguishingly affects the morphology of different types of RGC, indicating that form vision and non-form vision play different role in myopia development.