GSE160797
Mapping the origin and fate of myeloid cells in distinct compartments of the eye by single-cell profiling
Similar to the brain, the eye is considered an immune-privileged organ where tissue-resident macrophages provide the major immune cell constituents. However, little is known about spatially restricted macrophage subsets within different eye compartments with regard to their origin, function and fate during health and disease. Here, we combined single-cell analysis, fate mapping, parabiosis and computational modelling to comprehensively examine myeloid subsets in distinct parts of the eye during homeostasis. This approach allowed us to identify myeloid subsets displaying diverse transcriptional states. During choroidal neovascularization, a typical hallmark of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), we recognized disease-specific macrophage subpopulations with distinct molecular signatures. Our results highlight the heterogeneity of myeloid subsets and their dynamics in the eye. This provides new insights into the innate immune system in this organ and may offer new therapeutic targets for ophthalmological diseases. Overall design: CD45+ cells isolated from different eye compartments (including retina, cornea and ciliary body) at baseline or at 2 timepoints after laser lesioning of the retina. Data are representative of ca.6 mice from three independent experiments. CEL-Seq2 protocol was used for single cell sequencing (Hashimshony et al. 2016).