Human organotypic retinal cultures (HORCs) as a chronic experimental model for investigation of retinal ganglion cell degeneration

Osborne, Andrew, Hopes, Marina, Wright, Phillip, Broadway, David C. and Sanderson, Julie (2016) Human organotypic retinal cultures (HORCs) as a chronic experimental model for investigation of retinal ganglion cell degeneration. Experimental Eye Research, 143. pp. 28-38. ISSN 0014-4835

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Abstract

There is a growing need for models of human diseases that utilise native, donated human tissue in order to model disease processes and develop novel therapeutic strategies. In this paper we assessed the suitability of adult human retinal explants as a potential model of chronic retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration. Our results confirmed that RGC markers commonly used in rodent studies (NeuN, bIII Tubulin and Thy-1) were appropriate for labelling human RGCs and followed the expected differential expression patterns across, as well as throughout, the macular and para-macular regions of the retina. Furthermore, we showed that neither donor age nor post-mortem time (within 24 h) significantly affected the initial expression levels of RGC markers. In addition, the feasibility of using human post mortem donor tissue as a long-term model of RGC degeneration was determined with RGC protein being detectable up to 4 weeks in culture with an associated decline in RGC mRNA and significant, progressive, apoptotic labelling of NeuNþ cells. Differences in RGC apoptosis might have been influenced by medium compositions indicating that media constituents could play a role in supporting axotomised RGCs. We propose that using ex vivo human explants may prove to be a useful model for testing the effectiveness of neuroprotective strategies.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	human,rgc,glaucoma,model,retina,apoptosis,degeneration,sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/good_health_and_well_being
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Pharmacy (former - to 2024) Faculty of Science Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Pharmaceutical Cell Biology (former - to 2017) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Molecular and Tissue Pharmacology
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	13 Jan 2016 11:00
Last Modified:	24 Sep 2024 11:26
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/56278
DOI:	10.1016/j.exer.2015.09.012

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