Browsing by Subject "Optic nerve crush"

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    Effects of different neurotrophic factors on the survival of retinal ganglion cells after a complete intraorbital nerve crush injury: a quantitative in vivo study
    (Elsevier, 2009-06-15) Parrilla Reverter, Guillermo; Agudo, Marta; Sobrado Calvo, Paloma; Villegas Pérez, María P.; Vidal Sanz, Manuel; Salinas Navarro, Manuel Ángel; Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología
    We examined in adult Sprague Dawley rats the loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) induced by complete intraorbital optic nerve crush (IONC) as well as the effects of several neurotrophic factors to prevent IONC-induced RGC loss. Completeness of the IONC lesion was assessed by investigating the orthograde and retrograde transport of neuronal tracers applied to the origin and termination of the retinotectal pathway. RGC survival after IONC alone or combined with intraocular injection of the neurotrophic factors NT-4, BDNF or CNTF was quantified at survival intervals ranging from 5 to 12 days post-lesion (dpl) by identifying RGCs that had been pre-labelled with fluorogold (FG). RGC loss first appeared at 7 dpl and by 12 dpl only 32% of the RGC population remained in the retina. Intraocular administration of NT-4, BDNF or CNTF resulted in almost a complete protection against IONC-induced RGC loss by 7 dpl, and the protection remained significant by 12 dpl only for NT-4 and BDNF. We have analyzed these results taking into account our previous studies on the loss of RGCs induced by intraorbital optic nerve transection (IONT) and concluded that RGC loss induced by IONC is slower and less severe than that following IONT. Moreover, as for IONT-induced RGC loss, IONC-induced RGC loss may also be prevented with administration of NT-4, BDNF or CNTF, though for NT-4 and CNTF their neuroprotective effects differ depending on the injury type. Overall this data underscore the importance of the type of ON injury on the pattern of RGC degeneration as well as in their response to neuroprotective treatments.
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    Nerve fibre layer degeneration and retinal ganglion cell loss long term after optic nerve crush or transection in adult mice
    (Elsevier, 2018-02-13) Sánchez-Migallón Carreras, María del Cielo; Valiente Soriano, Francisco Javier; Salinas Navarro, Manuel Ángel; Nadal-Nicolás, Francisco Manuel; Jiménez-López, M.; Vidal Sanz, Manuel; Agudo Barriuso, Marta; Oftalmología, Optometría, Otorrinolaringología y Anatomía Patológica; Facultad de Medicina
    We have investigated the long term effects of two different models of unilateral optic nerve (ON) lesion on retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons, in the injured and contralateral retinas of adult albino mice. Intact animals were used as controls. The left ON was intraorbitally crushed or transected at 0.5 mm from the optic disk and both retinas were analyzed at 2, 3, 5, 7, 14, 30, 45 or 90 days after injury. RGCs were immunoidentified with anti-Brn3a, and their axons with anti-highly phosphorylated axonal neurofilament subunit H (pNFH). After both lesions, RGC death in the injured retinas is first significant at day 3, and progresses quickly up to 7 days slowing down till 90 days. In the same retinas, the anatomical loss of RGC axons is not evident until day 30. However, by two days after both lesions there are changes in the expression pattern of pNFH: axonal beads, axonal club- or bulb-like formations, and pNFH+RGC somas. The number of pNFH+RGC somata peak at day 5 after either lesion and is significantly higher than in intact retinas at all time points. pNFH+RGC somata are distributed across the retina, in accordance with the pattern of RGC death which is diffuse and homogenous. In the contralateral retinas there is no RGC loss, but there are few pNFH+RGCs from day 2 to day 90. In conclusion, in albino mice, axotomy-induced RGC death precedes the loss of their intraretinal axons and occurs in two phases, a rapid and a slower, but steady, one. Injured retinas show similar changes in the pattern of pNFH expression and a comparable course of RGC loss
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    Neuroinflammation and gliosis in the injured and contralateral retinas after unilateral optic nerve crush
    (Elsevier, 2023-08-22) Cabrera Maqueda, José María; Boia, Raquel; Lucas Ruiz, Fernando; González Riquelme, María José; Ambrosio, Antonio Francisco; Santiago, Ana Raquel; Vidal Sanz, Manuel; Agudo Barriuso, Marta; Galindo Romero, Caridad; Oftalmología, Optometría, Otorrinolaringología y Anatomía Patológica
    The main purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of unilateral optic nerve crush in the gene expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators, and gliosis markers in injured and contralateral retinas. Retinas from intact, unilaterally optic nerve injured or sham-operated C57BL/6J mice were analyzed 1, 3, 9 and 30 days after the surgery (n = 5/group and time point) and the relative expression of TGF-β1, IL-1β, TNF-α, Iba1, AQP4, GFAP, MHCII, and TSPO was analyzed in injured and contralateral using qPCR. The results indicated that compared with intact retinas, sham-operated animals showed an early (day 1) upregulation of IL-1β, TNF-α and TSPO and a late (day 30) upregulation of TNF-α. In sham-contralateral retinas, TNF-α and TSPO mRNA expression were upregulated and day 30 while GFAP, Iba1, AQP4 and MHCII downregulated at day 9. Compared with sham-operated animals, in retinas affected by optic nerve crush GFAP and TSPO upregulated at day 1 and TNF-α, Iba1, AQP4 and MHCII at day 3. In the crushed-contralateral retinas, TGF-β1, TNF-α, Iba1 and MHCII were upregulated at day 1. TSPO was upregulated up to day 30 whereas TGF-β1 and Iba1 downregulated after day 9. In conclusion, both sham surgery and optic nerve crush changed the profile of inflammatory and gliosis markers in the injured and contralateral retinas, changes that were more pronounced for optic nerve crush when compared to sham.
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    Pan-retinal ganglion cell markers in mice, rats, and rhesus macaques
    (Kunming Institute of Zoology; the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and the China Zoological Society, 2022-12-16) Nadal-Nicolás, Francisco Manuel; Galindo Romero, Caridad; Lucas Ruiz, Fernando; Marsh-Amstrong, Nicholas; Li, Wei; Vidal Sanz, Manuel; Agudo Barriuso, Marta; Oftalmología, Optometría, Otorrinolaringología y Anatomía Patológica; Facultad de Medicina
    Univocal identification of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) is an essential prerequisite for studying their degeneration and neuroprotection. Before the advent of phenotypic markers, RGCs were normally identified using retrograde tracing of retinorecipient areas. This is an invasive technique, and its use is precluded in higher mammals such as monkeys. In the past decade, several RGC markers have been described. Here, we reviewed and analyzed the specificity of nine markers used to identify all or most RGCs, i.e., pan-RGC markers, in rats, mice, and macaques. The best markers in the three species in terms of specificity, proportion of RGCs labeled, and indicators of viability were BRN3A, expressed by vision-forming RGCs, and RBPMS, expressed by vision- and non-vision-forming RGCs. NEUN, often used to identify RGCs, was expressed by non-RGCs in the ganglion cell layer, and therefore was not RGC-specific. γ-SYN, TUJ1, and NF-L labeled the RGC axons, which impaired the detection of their somas in the central retina but would be good for studying RGC morphology. In rats, TUJ1 and NF-L were also expressed by non-RGCs. BM88, ERRβ, and PGP9.5 are rarely used as markers, but they identified most RGCs in the rats and macaques and ERRβ in mice. However, PGP9.5 was also expressed by non-RGCs in rats and macaques and BM88 and ERRβ were not suitable markers of viability.
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    Systemic and Intravitreal Antagonism of the TNFR1 Signaling Pathway Delays Axotomy-Induced Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss
    (Frontiers Media, 2019-10-15) Lucas Ruiz, Fernando; Galindo Romero, Caridad; Salinas Navarro, Manuel Ángel; González Riquelme, María Josefa; Vidal Sanz, Manuel; Agudo Barriuso, Marta; Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología
    Here, we have blocked the signaling pathway of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) in a mouse model of traumatic neuropathy using a small cell permeable molecule (R7050) that inhibits TNFα/TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) complex internalization. Adult pigmented mice were subjected to intraorbital optic nerve crush (ONC). Animals received daily intraperitoneal injections of R7050, and/or a single intravitreal administration the day of the surgery. Some animals received a combinatorial treatment with R7050 (systemic or local) and a single intravitreal injection of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). As controls, untreated animals were used. Retinas were analyzed for RGC survival 5 and 14 days after the lesion i.e., during the quick and slow phase of axotomy-induced RGC death. qPCR analyses were done to verify that Tnfr1 and TNFα were up-regulated after ONC. At 5 days post-lesion, R7050 intravitreal or systemic treatment neuroprotected RGCs as much as BDNF alone. At 14 days, RGC rescue by systemic or intravitreal administration of R7050 was similar. At this time point, intravitreal treatment with BDNF was significantly better than intravitreal R7050. Combinatory treatment was not better than BDNF alone, although at both time points, the mean number of surviving RGCs was higher. In conclusion, antagonism of the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis rescues axotomized RGCs as it does the activation of survival pathways by BDNF. However, manipulation of both pathways at the same time, does not improve RGC survival.
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    Systemic inflammation aggravates retinal ganglion cell vulnerability to optic nerve trauma in adult rats
    (MDPI, 2026-02-03) Rovere, Giuseppe ; Caja Matas, Yolanda; Vidal Villegas, Beatriz; Bernal Garro, José M. ; Sobrado Calvo, Paloma; Salinas Navarro, Manuel Ángel; Nucci, Carlo; Villegas Pérez, Maria Paz; Vidal Sanz, Manuel; Agudo Barriuso, Marta; Nadal-Nicolás, Francisco Manuel; Oftalmología, Optometría, Otorrinolaringología y Anatomía Patológica; Facultades de la UMU::Facultad de Medicina
    Systemic inflammation is increasingly recognized as a modifier of neurodegenerative outcomes in the central nervous system; however, its impact on retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival and retinal microglial responses following optic nerve (ON) injury in vivo remains incompletely understood. In this study, we investigated how systemic lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation influences retinal microglial activation and RGC vulnerability under physiological conditions and after traumatic ON damage. In adult female rats, systemic LPS administration by intraperitoneal injection induced rapid and robust microglial activation, characterized by process retraction and soma hypertrophy within hours and promoting microglial proliferation at later stages but without causing RGC loss in intact retinas. Following ON crush, systemic inflammation did not affect early RGC degeneration but significantly exacerbated neuronal loss during the late acute phase. This increased vulnerability was accompanied by a marked rise in microglial density and a pronounced redistribution of microglia toward the central retina and the ON head, a region of heightened anatomical and metabolic susceptibility. Together, these findings demonstrate that, in rats, systemic inflammation alone is insufficient to induce RGC degeneration but acts as a potent priming factor that amplifies neurodegeneration in the context of axonal injury. The temporal and spatial specificity of microglial responses underscores their context-dependent role in retinal pathology and identifies systemic inflammatory status as a critical determinant of retinal outcome after trauma. Targeted, time-dependent modulation of microglial activation may therefore represent a promising therapeutic strategy for optic neuropathies.
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    Wnt5a regulates the expression of developmental genes in the adult retina following optic nerve crush injury
    (Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Histología e Histopatología, 2025) Albano Gabrielle A.; Parrales Paola E.; Hackam Abigail S.; Biología Celular e Histología
    Canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling pathways are well-characterized regulators of retinal development. Wnt signaling also promotes neuro-protection and regeneration in adult tissues, including retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival and axonal regrowth after optic nerve injury. However, it is unknown whether Wnt-dependent neuroprotection after injury in the adult CNS is associated with altered expression of developmental genes. Müller glia are a prominent radial glia type in the retina that play critical roles in retinal neuron protection, RGC neurite growth, and axon regeneration by acting through Wnt and other signaling pathways. We recently used mass spectrometry to characterize proteins secreted from Müller glia in response to Wnt signaling. In this study, we investigated whether the Wnt-induced Müller glia secretome includes proteins involved in development and whether their corresponding genes are regulated by Wnt5a during axonal regeneration in a mouse model of optic nerve crush (ONC) injury. Adult mice received intravitreal injections of Wnt5a or saline at the time of ONC injury, and then retina tissue was collected at early time points post-injury. The expression of candidate Wnt-regulated developmental genes and related proteins were characterized by qPCR and immunohistochemistry. Our findings revealed that Wnt5a downregulated the expression of specific developmental genes, including cilia-related genes Nphp4, INTU, and Jade1, as well as transcriptional regulators Pax6 and Tsc1, with time-dependent changes observed during axonal regrowth. Several of these genes were localized to RGCs and inner nuclear layer cells, suggesting direct effects in RGCs and contributions from Müller glia. These results demonstrate that specific developmental gene pathways are suppressed by Wnt5a in association with RGC survival and axon regrowth following injury. Therefore, this study adds to our knowledge of potential mechanisms of Wnt-mediated optic nerve regeneration and identifies new categories of putative regeneration-regulating genes for further study