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Browsing by Author "VanderWall, Kirstin B."
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Item Astrocytes modulate neurodegenerative phenotypes associated with glaucoma in OPTN(E50K) human stem cell-derived retinal ganglion cells(Elsevier, 2022) Gomes, Cátia; VanderWall, Kirstin B.; Pan, Yanling; Lu, Xiaoyu; Lavekar, Sailee S.; Huang, Kang-Chieh; Fligor, Clarisse M.; Harkin, Jade; Zhang, Chi; Cummins, Theodore R.; Meyer, Jason S.; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineAlthough the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) is a primary characteristic of glaucoma, astrocytes also contribute to their neurodegeneration in disease states. Although studies often explore cell-autonomous aspects of RGC neurodegeneration, a more comprehensive model of glaucoma should take into consideration interactions between astrocytes and RGCs. To explore this concept, RGCs and astrocytes were differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) with a glaucoma-associated OPTN(E50K) mutation along with corresponding isogenic controls. Initial results indicated significant changes in OPTN(E50K) astrocytes, including evidence of autophagy dysfunction. Subsequently, co-culture experiments demonstrated that OPTN(E50K) astrocytes led to neurodegenerative properties in otherwise healthy RGCs, while healthy astrocytes rescued some neurodegenerative features in OPTN(E50K) RGCs. These results are the first to identify disease phenotypes in OPTN(E50K) astrocytes, including how their modulation of RGCs is affected. Moreover, these results support the concept that astrocytes could offer a promising target for therapeutic intervention in glaucoma.Item Astrocytes Regulate the Development and Maturation of Retinal Ganglion Cells Derived from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells(Elsevier, 2019-02-12) VanderWall, Kirstin B.; Vij, Ridhima; Ohlemacher, Sarah K.; Sridhar, Akshayalakshmi; Fligor, Clarisse M.; Feder, Elyse M.; Edler, Michael C.; Baucum, Anthony J.; Cummins, Theodore R.; Meyer, Jason S.; Biology, School of ScienceRetinal ganglion cells (RGCs) form the connection between the eye and the brain, with this connectivity disrupted in numerous blinding disorders. Previous studies have demonstrated the ability to derive RGCs from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs); however, these cells exhibited some characteristics that indicated a limited state of maturation. Among the many factors known to influence RGC development in the retina, astrocytes are known to play a significant role in their functional maturation. Thus, efforts of the current study examined the functional maturation of hPSC-derived RGCs, including the ability of astrocytes to modulate this developmental timeline. Morphological and functional properties of RGCs were found to increase over time, with astrocytes significantly accelerating the functional maturation of hPSC-derived RGCs. The results of this study clearly demonstrate the functional and morphological maturation of RGCs in vitro, including the effects of astrocytes on the maturation of hPSC-derived RGCs.Item Autophagy disruption reduces mTORC1 activation leading to retinal ganglion cell neurodegeneration associated with glaucoma(Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2023-01-04) Huang, Kang-Chieh; Gomes, Cátia; Shiga, Yukihiro; Belforte, Nicolas; VanderWall, Kirstin B.; Lavekar, Sailee S.; Fligor, Clarisse M.; Harkin, Jade; Di Polo, Adriana; Meyer, Jason S.; Biology, School of ScienceAutophagy dysfunction has been associated with several neurodegenerative diseases including glaucoma, characterized by the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). However, the mechanisms by which autophagy dysfunction promotes RGC damage remain unclear. Here, we hypothesized that perturbation of the autophagy pathway results in increased autophagic demand, thereby downregulating signaling through mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), a negative regulator of autophagy, contributing to the degeneration of RGCs. We identified an impairment of autophagic-lysosomal degradation and decreased mTORC1 signaling via activation of the stress sensor adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), along with subsequent neurodegeneration in RGCs differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) with a glaucoma-associated variant of Optineurin (OPTN-E50K). Similarly, the microbead occlusion model of glaucoma resulting in ocular hypertension also exhibited autophagy disruption and mTORC1 downregulation. Pharmacological inhibition of mTORC1 in hPSC-derived RGCs recapitulated disease-related neurodegenerative phenotypes in otherwise healthy RGCs, while the mTOR-independent induction of autophagy reduced protein accumulation and restored neurite outgrowth in diseased OPTN-E50K RGCs. Taken together, these results highlight an important balance between autophagy and mTORC1 signaling essential for RGC homeostasis, while disruption to these pathways contributes to neurodegenerative features in glaucoma, providing a potential therapeutic target to prevent neurodegeneration.Item Differential susceptibility of retinal ganglion cell subtypes in acute and chronic models of injury and disease(Nature Publishing Group, 2020-10-15) VanderWall, Kirstin B.; Lu, Bin; Alfaro, Jorge S.; Allsop, Anna R.; Carr, Alexa S.; Wang, Shaomei; Meyer, Jason S.; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineRetinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are a heterogeneous population of neurons, comprised of numerous subtypes that work synchronously to transmit visual information to the brain. In blinding disorders such as glaucoma, RGCs are the main cell type to degenerate and lead to loss of vision. Previous studies have identified and characterized a variety of RGC subtypes in animal models, although only a handful of studies demonstrate the differential loss of these RGC subtypes in response to disease or injury. Thus, efforts of the current study utilized both chronic (bead occlusion) and acute (optic nerve crush, ONC) rat models to characterize disease response and differential loss of RGC subtypes. Bead occlusion and ONC retinas demonstrated significant RGC loss, glial reactivity and apoptosis compared to control retinas. Importantly, bead occlusion and ONC retinas resulted in differential subtype-specific loss of RGCs, with a high susceptibility for alpha- and direction selective-RGCs and preferential survival of ipRGCs. Results of this study serve as an important foundation for future experiments focused on the mechanisms resulting in the loss of RGCs in optic neuropathies, as well as the development of targeted therapeutics for RGC subtype-specific neuroprotection.Item Extension of retinofugal projections in an assembled model of human pluripotent stem cell-derived organoids(Cell Press, 2021-09-14) Fligor, Clarisse M.; Lavekar, Sailee S.; Harkin, Jade; Shields, Priya K.; VanderWall, Kirstin B.; Huang, Kang-Chieh; Gomes, Cátia; Meyer, Jason S.; Biology, School of ScienceThe development of the visual system involves the coordination of spatial and temporal events to specify the organization of varied cell types, including the elongation of axons from retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) to post-synaptic targets in the brain. Retinal organoids recapitulate many features of retinal development, yet have lacked downstream targets into which RGC axons extend, limiting the ability to model projections of the human visual system. To address these issues, retinal organoids were generated and organized into an in vitro assembloid model of the visual system with cortical and thalamic organoids. RGCs responded to environmental cues and extended axons deep into assembloids, modeling the projections of the visual system. In addition, RGC survival was enhanced in long-term assembloids, overcoming prior limitations of retinal organoids in which RGCs are lost. Overall, these approaches will facilitate studies of human visual system development, as well as diseases or injuries to this critical pathway.Item The Maturation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Ganglion Cells and Their Degeneration in Glaucoma(2020-05) VanderWall, Kirstin B.; Androphy, Elliot; Cummins, Theodore R.; Berbari, Nicolas; Linnemann, Amelia; Meyer, Jason S.In glaucoma, the connection between the eye and the brain is severed leading to the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and eventual blindness. A need exists to better understand the maturation of human RGCs as well as their degeneration, with the goal of developing new therapeutics diseases like glaucoma. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) provide an advantageous model for the study of RGC development and disease as they can be differentiated into RGCs in large, reproducible quantities. Efforts of the current studies initially focused on the development and maturation of RGCs from hPSCs. RGCs derived from hPSCs were a diverse population of cells and matured in a temporal fashion, yielding morphological and functional characteristics similar to their in vivo counterpart. CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing was then utilized to insert the OPTN(E50K) glaucomatous mutation into hPSCs to model RGC degeneration. RGCs harboring this mutation exhibited numerous degenerative phenotypes including neurite retraction an autophagy dysfunction. Within the retina, many cell types contribute to the health and maturation of RGCs including astrocytes. As such, a co-culture system of hPSC-derived RGCs and astrocytes was developed to better understand the interaction between these two cell types. When grown in co-culture with astrocytes, hPSC-derived RGCs demonstrated significantly enhanced and accelerated morphological and functional maturation, indicating an important relationship between these cells in a healthy state. Astrocytes have also been shown to encompass neurodegenerative phenotypes in other diseases of the CNS, with these deficits profoundly effecting the health of surrounding neurons. hPSC-derived astrocytes grown from OPTN(E50K)-hPSCs demonstrated cell autonomous deficits and exhibited significant effects on the degeneration of RGCs. Taken together, results of this study demonstrated the utilization of hPSCs to model RGC maturation and degeneration in glaucoma. More so, these results are one of the first to characterize astrocyte deficits caused by the OPTN(E50K) mutation and could provide a new therapeutic target for pharmacological screenings and cell replacement therapies to reverse blindness in optic neuropathies.Item Retinal Ganglion Cells With a Glaucoma OPTN(E50K) Mutation Exhibit Neurodegenerative Phenotypes when Derived from Three-Dimensional Retinal Organoids(Elsevier, 2020-07-14) VanderWall, Kirstin B.; Huang, Kang-Chieh; Pan, Yanling; Lavekar, Sailee S.; Fligor, Clarisse M.; Allsop, Anna R.; Lentsch, Kelly A.; Dang, Pengtao; Zhang, Chi; Tseng, Henry C.; Cummins, Theodore R.; Meyer, Jason S.; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineRetinal ganglion cells (RGCs) serve as the connection between the eye and the brain, with this connection disrupted in glaucoma. Numerous cellular mechanisms have been associated with glaucomatous neurodegeneration, and useful cellular models of glaucoma allow for the precise analysis of degenerative phenotypes. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) serve as powerful tools for studying human disease, particularly cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration. Thus, efforts focused upon hPSCs with an E50K mutation in the Optineurin (OPTN) gene, a leading cause of inherited forms of glaucoma. CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing introduced the OPTN(E50K) mutation into existing lines of hPSCs, as well as generating isogenic controls from patient-derived lines. RGCs differentiated from OPTN(E50K) hPSCs exhibited numerous neurodegenerative deficits, including neurite retraction, autophagy dysfunction, apoptosis, and increased excitability. These results demonstrate the utility of OPTN(E50K) RGCs as an in vitro model of neurodegeneration, with the opportunity to develop novel therapeutic approaches for glaucoma.