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A single‐cell transcriptome atlas of the adult human retina
Author(s) -
Lukowski Samuel W,
Lo Camden Y,
Sharov Alexei A,
Nguyen Quan,
Fang Lyujie,
Hung Sandy SC,
Zhu Ling,
Zhang Ting,
Grünert Ulrike,
Nguyen Tu,
Senabouth Anne,
Jabbari Jafar S,
Welby Emily,
Sowden Jane C,
Waugh Hayley S,
Mackey Adrienne,
Pollock Graeme,
Lamb Trevor D,
Wang PengYuan,
Hewitt Alex W,
Gillies Mark C,
Powell Joseph E,
Wong Raymond CB
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.15252/embj.2018100811
Subject(s) - biology , atlas (anatomy) , retina , transcriptome , computational biology , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , anatomy , neuroscience , gene expression , gene
The retina is a specialized neural tissue that senses light and initiates image processing. Although the functional organization of specific retina cells has been well studied, the molecular profile of many cell types remains unclear in humans. To comprehensively profile the human retina, we performed single‐cell RNA sequencing on 20,009 cells from three donors and compiled a reference transcriptome atlas. Using unsupervised clustering analysis, we identified 18 transcriptionally distinct cell populations representing all known neural retinal cells: rod photoreceptors, cone photoreceptors, Müller glia, bipolar cells, amacrine cells, retinal ganglion cells, horizontal cells, astrocytes, and microglia. Our data captured molecular profiles for healthy and putative early degenerating rod photoreceptors, and revealed the loss of MALAT 1 expression with longer post‐mortem time, which potentially suggested a novel role of MALAT 1 in rod photoreceptor degeneration. We have demonstrated the use of this retina transcriptome atlas to benchmark pluripotent stem cell‐derived cone photoreceptors and an adult Müller glia cell line. This work provides an important reference with unprecedented insights into the transcriptional landscape of human retinal cells, which is fundamental to understanding retinal biology and disease.