1. T and B Lymphocyte Deficiency in Rag1−/− Mice Reduces Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss in Experimental Glaucoma
- Author
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Markus H. Kuehn, Cheyanne R. Godwin, Oliver W. Gramlich, Neal D. Heuss, and Dale S. Gregerson
- Subjects
Male ,Retinal Ganglion Cells ,Intraocular pressure ,medicine.medical_specialty ,genetic structures ,T-Lymphocytes ,CD3 ,Lymphocyte ,Glaucoma ,Cell Count ,Mice ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Immune system ,Ophthalmology ,medicine ,Animals ,Intraocular Pressure ,Homeodomain Proteins ,Mice, Knockout ,B-Lymphocytes ,RGC ,biology ,business.industry ,autoimmune response/disease ,Flow Cytometry ,medicine.disease ,eye diseases ,Pathophysiology ,Mice, Inbred C57BL ,Disease Models, Animal ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Retinal ganglion cell ,Knockout mouse ,030221 ophthalmology & optometry ,biology.protein ,Female ,sense organs ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Purpose We previously demonstrated that passive transfer of lymphocytes from glaucomatous mice induces retinal ganglion cell (RGC) damage in recipient animals, suggesting a role for immune responses in the multifactorial pathophysiology of glaucoma. Here we evaluate whether absence of an adaptive immune response reduces RGC loss in glaucoma. Methods Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) was induced in one eye of C57BL/6J (B6) or T- and B-cell-deficient Rag1-/- knockout mice. After 16 weeks RGC density was determined in both the induced and the normotensive contralateral eyes. Data were compared to mice having received injections of "empty" vector (controls). The number of extravascular CD3+ cells in the retinas was determined using FACS. Results Retinas of eyes with elevated IOP contain significantly more extravasated CD3+ cells than control retinas (46.0 vs. 27.1, P = 0.025). After 16 weeks of elevated IOP the average RGC density in B6 mice decreased by 20.7% (P = 1.9 × 10-4). In contrast, RGC loss in Rag1-/- eyes with elevated IOP was significantly lower (10.3%, P = 0.006 vs. B6). RGC loss was also observed in the contralateral eyes of B6 mice, despite the absence of elevated IOP in those eyes (10.1%; P = 0.008). In RAG1-/- loss in the contralateral eyes was minimal (3.1%) and significantly below that detected in B6 (P = 0.02). Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that T Rag1-/- mice are significantly protected from glaucomatous RGC loss. In this model, lymphocyte activity contributes to approximately half of all RGC loss in eyes with elevated IOP and to essentially all loss observed in normotensive contralateral eyes.
- Published
- 2020