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Use of cell type‐specific transcriptome to identify genes specifically involved in Müller glia differentiation during retinal development
Author(s) -
Mochizuki Yujin,
Iida Atsumi,
Lyons Eli,
Kageyama Ryoichiro,
Nakauchi Hiromitsu,
Murakami Akira,
Watanabe Sumiko
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
developmental neurobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.716
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1932-846X
pISSN - 1932-8451
DOI - 10.1002/dneu.22131
Subject(s) - biology , retinal , muller glia , transcriptome , progenitor cell , microbiology and biotechnology , retina , cellular differentiation , cell type , notch signaling pathway , stem cell , gene , cell , gene expression , signal transduction , genetics , neuroscience , biochemistry
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. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 74: 426–437, 2014