Granada, EFE A group of researchers from the Department Cell Biology, University of Granada has found evidence of the influence of microglial cells in the death of photoreceptor cells, which are responsible for converting light into signals recognizable by neurons.
microglial cells found in the central nervous system and are responsible for removing cellular debris in the eye, today reported Innovapresse, under the Board.
is confirmed one hundred percent this hypothesis would help explain and treat certain retinal degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, Usher syndrome, macular degeneration or age related. Michelangelo
Cuadros, who led the project, maintains that if you know the factors related to the programmed death of the photoreceptors' may develop therapeutic strategies to prevent or delay the development of retinal degenerative diseases. "
For this, experts have developed two experimental models: one with live mice those exposed to bright light and another in vitro culture of explants, pieces of retina, also from these rodents.
Researchers have found that microglial cells of the inner layers of the retina of mice issued extensions to the photoreceptor cell nuclei at the very end of exposure to bright light when you start the degeneration of photoreceptors.
Twenty-four hours later there are numerous microglial cells in the region by eliminating degraded cells, and from seventy-two hours, the microglia try to get back to normal, while maintaining the microglial activation if necessary the no new dead cells.
In the explants, retinal fragments, grown in suitable conditions of temperature and nutrients for up to 18 days while maintaining the general characteristics of the retina, analyzed cell viability in culture, which suffered a decline during the first days " probably as a result of the drastic changes experienced by the retina when preparing the explant and placed in a culture medium. "
Subsequently, the overall structure of the retina was kept for two weeks' time during which the experiments were conducted.
were also retinal explants from animals lacking the enzyme PARP-1, involved in DNA repair and related to the activation of microglial function, in which cell death occurred one or two days later in relation to PARP-1 retinas, although the team has yet explain why.
In both cases, researchers found that the decrease in cell viability coincided with an increase in microglial activation confirmed by flow cytometry technique for counting or measuring cell components and properties.
After determining the viability of normal cells, the researchers focused on determining the effect of altering the function of the microglial fragment viability retina.
Currently, this team works in the elimination of microglial cells in retinal explants.
If they remove the microglia get useful information about its influence on retinal degeneration.
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