| First Author | Bernstein SL | Year | 2020 |
| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 117 |
| Issue | 32 | Pages | 19287-19298 |
| PubMed ID | 32723825 | Mgi Jnum | J:293933 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6450995 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.2001858117 |
| Citation | Bernstein SL, et al. (2020) The optic nerve lamina region is a neural progenitor cell niche. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 117(32):19287-19298 |
| abstractText | Retinal ganglion cell axons forming the optic nerve (ON) emerge unmyelinated from the eye and become myelinated after passage through the optic nerve lamina region (ONLR), a transitional area containing a vascular plexus. The ONLR has a number of unusual characteristics: it inhibits intraocular myelination, enables postnatal ON myelination of growing axons, modulates the fluid pressure differences between eye and brain, and is the primary lesion site in the age-related disease open angle glaucoma (OAG). We demonstrate that the human and rodent ONLR possesses a mitotically active, age-depletable neural progenitor cell (NPC) niche, with unique characteristics and culture requirements. These NPCs generate both forms of macroglia: astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, and can form neurospheres in culture. Using reporter mice with SOX2-driven, inducible gene expression, we show that ONLR-NPCs generate macroglial cells for the anterior ON. Early ONLR-NPC loss results in regional dysfunction and hypomyelination. In adulthood, ONLR-NPCs may enable glial replacement and remyelination. ONLR-NPC depletion may help explain why ON diseases such as OAG progress in severity during aging. |
