Gene therapy may have also a therapeutic potential especially for Lebers hereditary optic neuropathy, an optic neuropathy caused by mitochondrial mutation G11778A in NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) gene . process since, until now, there is no restorative strategy directed to promote axonal regeneration of RGCs like a restorative approach for optic neuropathies. Keywords: retinal ganglion cells, neurodegeneration, axonal regeneration, neuroprotection, optic neuropathies 1. Intro The retina is definitely part of the central nervous system (CNS) and is constituted by neurons, glial cells and blood vessels . The neuronal component of the retina is composed by six types of neurons: photoreceptors (rods and cones), bipolar cells, horizontal cells, amacrine cells and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Photoreceptors, whose nuclei is located in the outer nuclear coating JAK2-IN-4 (ONL), respond Rabbit polyclonal to smad7 to light and make synapses with second-order neurons. The cell body of retinal interneurons (horizontal, bipolar and amacrine cells) are located predominately in the inner nuclear coating (INL) and improve and relay the visual information from your photoreceptors to the RGCs that are located in the innermost coating of the retina, the ganglion cell coating (GCL) (Number 1). RGCs are the output cells of the retina that convey the visual signals to the brain visual focuses on. The axons of JAK2-IN-4 RGCs run in the beginning in the nerve dietary fiber coating (NFL) and converge into the optic disc, mix the lamina cribrosa in the optic nerve head (ONH), and form the optic nerve (Number 1) . Open in a separate window Number 1 Schematic representation of the neural sensory retina, depicting the organization of the cells into nuclear and plexiform layers. The nuclei of photoreceptors, rods and cones, are located in the outer nuclear coating (ONL) and nuclei of interneurons, amacrine, bipolar and horizontal cells, are located predominately in the JAK2-IN-4 inner nuclear coating (INL). The cell body of RGCs are in the ganglion cell coating (GCL), and their axons run in the nerve dietary fiber coating (NFL). You will find two types of macroglia: Mller cells that span vertically the entire retina and astrocytes that are present in the GCL. Microglial cells are localized predominately in the inner retina and in the outer plexiform coating (OPL). IPL: inner plexiform coating; IS/OS: inner and outer segments of photoreceptors. Optic neuropathies comprise a group of ocular diseases, like glaucoma (the most common), anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and retinal ischemia, in which RGCs are the main affected cells . Blindness secondary to optic neuropathies is definitely irreversible since RGCs lack the capacity for self-renewal and have a limited ability for self-repair . The exact mechanism that leads to RGC death and degeneration is still unfamiliar, but axonal injury has been proposed as an early event that culminates in apoptotic death of RGCs . This paper evaluations the events that contribute to axonal degeneration and death of RGCs and also the neuroprotective strategies with potential to circumvent this problem. 2. Hurdles to RGC Survival and Regeneration upon Injury: Insights from Development to Disease Models During development, RGCs lengthen their axons to synapse in target areas of the brain (examined in ). After birth, there is a maximum in cell death that in rodents happens between postnatal days 2 and 5 (PND 2-5), ensuring that only cells that reached their focuses on survive (examined in ). The ability of RGCs to extend their axons decreases with age and the capacity to regenerate their axons is definitely lost early in development . In fact, cultures of RGCs (Number 2) prepared at both embryonic day time 20 (ED 20) or PND 8 lengthen their axons with related calibers; however, after 3 days in tradition, ED 20 RGCs lengthen their axons further and faster than cells isolated at PND 8. The exposure of these cells to conditioned press of superior colliculus cells further potentiates axonal growth of ED 20 RGCs without interfering with PND 8 RGCs, demonstrating that the loss of ability of RGCs axon growth is definitely mediated by retinal maturation . The reason behind the lost in the intrinsic JAK2-IN-4 ability of RGCs to regenerate upon injury has been extensively explored. Several players, including cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), phosphatase and tensin homologue.