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RNAi-mediated suppression of vimentin or glial fibrillary acidic protein prevents the establishment of Müller glial cell hypertrophy in progressive retinal degeneration.

Hippert, C; Graca, AB; Basche, M; Kalargyrou, AA; Georgiadis, A; Ribeiro, J; Matsuyama, A; ... Pearson, RA; + view all (2021) RNAi-mediated suppression of vimentin or glial fibrillary acidic protein prevents the establishment of Müller glial cell hypertrophy in progressive retinal degeneration. Glia 10.1002/glia.24034. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

Gliosis is a complex process comprising upregulation of intermediate filament (IF) proteins, particularly glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin, changes in glial cell morphology (hypertrophy) and increased deposition of inhibitory extracellular matrix molecules. Gliosis is common to numerous pathologies and can have deleterious effects on tissue function and regeneration. The role of IFs in gliosis is controversial, but a key hypothesized function is the stabilization of glial cell hypertrophy. Here, we developed RNAi approaches to examine the role of GFAP and vimentin in vivo in a murine model of inherited retinal degeneration, the Rhodopsin knockout (Rho-/- ) mouse. Specifically, we sought to examine the role of these IFs in the establishment of Müller glial hypertrophy during progressive degeneration, as opposed to (more commonly assessed) acute injury. Prevention of Gfap upregulation had a significant effect on the morphology of reactive Müller glia cells in vivo and, more strikingly, the reduction of Vimentin expression almost completely prevented these cells from undergoing degeneration-associated hypertrophy. Moreover, and in contrast to studies in knockout mice, simultaneous suppression of both GFAP and vimentin expression led to severe changes in the cytoarchitecture of the retina, in both diseased and wild-type eyes. These data demonstrate a crucial role for Vimentin, as well as GFAP, in the establishment of glial hypertrophy and support the further exploration of RNAi-mediated knockdown of vimentin as a potential therapeutic approach for modulating scar formation in the degenerating retina.

Type: Article
Title: RNAi-mediated suppression of vimentin or glial fibrillary acidic protein prevents the establishment of Müller glial cell hypertrophy in progressive retinal degeneration.
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1002/glia.24034
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1002/glia.24034
Language: English
Additional information: © 2021 The Authors. GLIA published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: GFAP, Müller cells, degeneration, glial scar, gliosis, hypertrophy, intermediate filament, retina, vimentin
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Institute of Ophthalmology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Department of Neuromuscular Diseases
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10128673
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