Small non-coding RNAs regulate retinal ganglion cell maturation and the developmental loss of intrinsic axon growth capacity

项目摘要 视网膜神经节细胞通过视神经中的轴突将信息从眼睛传递到大脑，并 视神经束。视网膜神经节细胞轴突生长的分子机制尚不清楚， 成年视网膜神经节细胞不能自发再生受损的轴突，从而导致视力丧失。 与视神经损伤和视神经疾病有关。我们的目标是研究一种新的方法来 刺激视网膜神经节细胞通过视神经再生轴突的固有能力 视觉反应。我们将利用已建立的动物模型来研究小的非编码RNA的作用 在调节视网膜神经节细胞成熟和轴突生长能力的发育丧失方面，并检测其 有可能再生受损的视神经。我们还将调查通过哪些分子途径 已识别的小分子非编码RNA调节轴突生长。此外，我们将调查这些因素所起的作用 小分子非编码RNA在视网膜发育过程中视网膜神经节细胞树突的树枝状分布。我们预计 这些研究将促进我们对小的非编码RNA在视网膜神经节中所起作用的理解 细胞生物学，以及潜在地导致用于恢复简单视觉的新方法的发展 视神经损伤后的功能。

Project Summary The retinal ganglion cells convey information from the eye to the brain through their axons in the optic nerve and the optic tract. The molecular mechanisms of retinal ganglion cell axon growth are still poorly understood, and adult retinal ganglion cells do not spontaneously regenerate injured axons, contributing to the loss of vision associated with optic nerve trauma and optic neuropathies. Our goal is to investigate a novel approach for stimulating the retinal ganglion cells’ intrinsic capacity to regenerate axons through the optic nerve to restore visual responses. We will utilize established animal models for investigating the roles of small non-coding RNAs in regulating retinal ganglion cell maturation and the developmental loss of axon growth capacity, and test their potential for regenerating the injured optic nerve. We will also investigate through which molecular pathways the identified small non-coding RNAs regulate neurite growth. Furthermore, we will investigate the roles of these small non-coding RNAs in arborization of retinal ganglion cell dendrites during retinal development. We expect that these studies will advance our understanding of the roles the small non-coding RNAs play in retinal ganglion cell biology, as well as potentially lead to the development of novel approaches for restoring simple visual functions after optic nerve injury.