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Tkatchenko and Tkatchenko BMC Med Genomics (2021) 14:153 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12920-021-01005-x RESEARCH Open Access Genome-wide analysis of retinal transcriptome reveals common genetic network underlying perception of contrast and optical defocus detection Tatiana V. Tkatchenko1 and Andrei V. Tkatchenko1,2,3* Abstract Background: Refractive eye development is regulated by optical defocus in a process of emmetropization. Excessive exposure to negative optical defocus often leads to the development of myopia. However, it is still largely unknown how optical defocus is detected by the retina. Methods: Here, we used genome-wide RNA-sequencing to conduct analysis of the retinal gene expression network underlying contrast perception and refractive eye development. Results: We report that the genetic network subserving contrast perception plays an important role in optical defo- cus detection and emmetropization. Our results demonstrate an interaction between contrast perception, the retinal circadian clock pathway and the signaling pathway underlying optical defocus detection. We also observe that the relative majority of genes causing human myopia are involved in the processing of optical defocus. Conclusions: Together, our results support the hypothesis that optical defocus is perceived by the retina using con- trast as a proxy and provide new insights into molecular signaling underlying refractive eye development. Keywords: Refractive eye development, Myopia, Contrast perception, Optical defocus, Circadian rhythms, Signaling pathways, Gene expression profling, Genetic network, RNA-seq Background compensate for imposed defocus very accurately by Refractive eye development is controlled by both envi- modulating the growth of the posterior segment of the ronmental and genetic factors, which determine the eye via a developmental mechanism called bidirectional optical geometry of the eye and its refractive state by a emmetropization by the sign of optical defocus (BESOD), process called emmetropization [1–8]. Various envi- whereby negative optical defocus stimulates eye growth ronmental factors infuence refractive eye development and positive optical defocus suppresses it [12–18]. [8–11]; however, the leading environmental factor driv- BESOD uses optical defocus to match the eye’s axial ing emmetropization is optical defocus [8, 12]. Te eye length to its optical power and can produce either sharp is very sensitive to the sign of optical defocus and can vision (if the eye is exposed to a normal visual environ- ment), myopia (if the eye is exposed to negative optical defocus) or hyperopia (if the eye is exposed to positive *Correspondence: [email protected] optical defocus) [8]. Importantly, animal studies suggest 3 Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Research Annex Room 415, 635 W. that the process of emmetropization is controlled locally 165th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article by the retina [19–24]. Excessive exposure to negative © The Author(s) 2021. 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The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ publi cdoma in/ zero/1. 0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Tkatchenko and Tkatchenko BMC Med Genomics (2021) 14:153 Page 2 of 23 optical defocus associated with nearwork leads to the chromatic aberrations, whereby the retina uses the con- development of myopia (nearsightedness), which is the trast of the luminance edges to determine focal plane most common ocular disorder in the world, manifesting and color contrast to identify the sign of defocus [54, in children of school age as blurred distance vision [13, 63, 64, 82]. Detection of luminance contrast and color 14, 16–18, 25–33]. contrast in the retina is organized as ON-center/OFF- Although the role of optical defocus in refractive eye surround and OFF-center/ON-surround receptive felds, development is a well-established fact, it is still largely which divide retinal pathways into ON and OFF channels unknown how optical defocus is perceived by the retina. respectively [83, 84]. Te importance of these contrast Several lines of evidence suggest that the absolute level processing retinal channels for refractive eye develop- of visual acuity does not play a signifcant role in opti- ment was demonstrated by experiments in knockout cal defocus detection because a variety of species with mice with ON-pathway mutations and in humans [85– diferent visual acuity ranging from 1.3 cpd in fsh [34], 88]. Anatomically, center-surround receptive felds are 0.6–1.4 cpd in mice [35–37], 2.4 cpd in tree shrews [38, comprised of photoreceptors, bipolar cells, horizontal 39], 2.7 cpd in guinea pigs [40, 41], 5 cpd in cats [42, 43], cells and amacrine cells, where horizontal and amacrine 5 cpd in chickens [44, 45] and 44 cpd in rhesus monkeys cells provide lateral inhibition which is critical for the and humans [46–48] undergo emmetropization and can generation of surround and contrast perception [83, 84]. compensate for imposed optical defocus [13–17, 49–53]. Interestingly, it was shown that amacrine cells play a crit- Moreover, it was demonstrated that accommodation ical role in refractive eye development [89–99] and that and emmetropization are driven by low spatial frequen- loss of amacrine cells negatively afects contrast sensitiv- cies even in species with high visual acuity [54, 55]; and ity [100]. the peripheral retina, which has much lower visual acu- Cronin-Golomb et al. [101] found that genetic factors ity than the central retina [56–61], plays an important have a signifcant contribution to contrast sensitivity in role in defocus detection and emmetropization [8, 22, humans. Te retina converts information about optical 24, 62]. Conversely, perception of contrast is emerging as defocus into molecular signals, which are transmitted an important cue for both defocus-driven accommoda- across the back of the eye via a multilayered signaling cas- tion and emmetropization [54, 63, 64]. Te possible role cade encoded by an elaborate genetic network [12, 102– of contrast perception in emmetropization is highlighted 115]. It is critical to characterize the genetic networks by the fact that species with diferent visual acuity have and signaling pathways underlying contrast perception similar contrast sensitivity at spatial frequencies found and determine their role in refractive eye development. to be critical for emmetropization [65]. Optical defocus Here, we systematically analyzed gene expression net- leads to a proportional degradation of contrast at the works and signaling pathways underlying contrast per- luminance edges of the images projected onto the retina, ception and refractive eye development in a panel of as revealed by the analysis of the efect of defocus on the highly genetically diverse mice, which have diferent eye’s contrast sensitivity [66–69]. Te retina, as revealed baseline refractive errors, diferent susceptibility to form- by in vitro recordings from ganglion cells, exhibits the deprivation myopia and diferent levels of contrast sen- highest sensitivity to contrast at low spatial frequen- sitivity, and determined the contribution of the genetic cies, consistent with what is found for the dependency network subserving contrast perception to baseline of accommodation and emmetropization on low spatial refractive development and optical-defocus-driven eye frequencies [45]. Ganglion cells’ fring rate increases pro- emmetropization. portionally with an increase in both optical focus and contrast, suggesting that contrast may be used by the ret- Methods ina as a proxy to optical defocus [45]. Interestingly, vision Ethics approval and consent to participate across the animal kingdom is tuned to contrast and not A total of 298 mice comprising collaborative cross to visual acuity [65, 70, 71]. Several species have been (129S1/svlmj, A/J, C57BL/6J, CAST/EiJ, NOD/ShiLtJ, shown to possess high contrast sensitivity and undergo NZO/HlLtJ, PWK/PhJ, and WSB/EiJ mice) were used in emmetropization despite low visual acuity [65, 72–75]. this study. Mice were obtained from the Jackson Labo- Retinae of many species adapted asymmetric photore- ratory (Bar Harbor, ME) and were maintained as an in- ceptor distribution which maximizes contrast perception house breeding colony. Food and water were provided across visual space in expense of other important visual ad libitum. All procedures adhered to the Association for functions such as visual acuity and color perception [70, Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) state- 71, 76–81]. ment on the use of animals in ophthalmic