title: Use of cell type-specific transcriptome to identify genes specifically involved in Müller glia differentiation during retinal development.
abstract: Retinal progenitor cells alter their properties over the course of development, and sequentially produce different sub-populations of retinal cells. We had previously found that early and late retinal progenitor cell populations can be distinguished by their surface antigens, SSEA-1 and c-kit, respectively. Using DNA microarray analysis, we examined the transcriptomes of SSEA-1 positive cells at E14, and c-kit positive, and c-kit negative cells at P1. By comparing data, we identified genes specifically expressed in c-kit positive late retinal progenitor cells. The previous literature suggests that most of the c-kit positive cell-specific genes are related to glia differentiation in brain or are expressed in Müller glia. Since Notch signaling promotes Müller glia differentiation in retina, we examined the effects of gain- and loss-of-Notch signaling on expression of these genes and found that all the genes were positively affected by Notch signaling. Finally, we screened the genes for their function in retinal development by shRNA-based suppression in retinal explants. In about half the genes, Müller glia differentiation was perturbed when their expression was suppressed. Taken together, these results show that at P1, c-kit positive retinal progenitor cells, which include Müller glia precursor cells, are enriched for genes related to glial differentiation. We propose analysis of purified subsets of retinal cells as a powerful tool to elucidate the molecular basis of retinal development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Developmental Biology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Ophthalmology, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yujin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mochizuki
authors.forename: Atsumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Eli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.forename: Ryoichiro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kageyama
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakauchi
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Sumiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D018274:Electroporation; D063928:Ependymoglial Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D016256:Lewis X Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000378:metabolism; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D016256:Lewis X Antigen; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D051880:Receptors, Notch; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit
keywords: Mueller glia; microarray; retina; shRNA