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Stone RA, Tobias JW, Wei W, Carlstedt X, Zhang L, Iuvone PM, Nickla DL. Diurnal gene expression patterns in retina and choroid distinguish myopia progression from myopia onset. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0307091. [PMID: 39028695 PMCID: PMC11259283 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0307091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2024] [Accepted: 06/30/2024] [Indexed: 07/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The world-wide prevalence of myopia (nearsightedness) is increasing, but its pathogenesis is incompletely understood. Among many putative mechanisms, laboratory and clinical findings have implicated circadian biology in the etiology of myopia. Consistent with a circadian hypothesis, we recently reported a marked variability in diurnal patterns of gene expression in two crucial tissues controlling post-natal refractive development - the retina and choroid-at the onset of form-deprivation myopia in chick, a widely studied and validated model. To extend these observations, we assayed gene expression by RNA-Seq in retina and choroid during the progression of established unilateral form-deprivation myopia of chick. We assayed gene expression every 4 hours during a single day from myopic and contralateral control eyes. Retinal and choroidal gene expression in myopic vs. control eyes during myopia progression differed strikingly at discrete times during the day. Very few differentially expressed genes occurred at more than one time in either tissue during progressing myopia. Similarly, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis pathways varied markedly by time during the day. Some of the differentially expressed genes in progressing myopia coincided with candidate genes for human myopia, but only partially corresponded with genes previously identified at myopia onset. Considering other laboratory findings and human genetics and epidemiology, these results further link circadian biology to the pathogenesis of myopia; but they also point to important mechanistic differences between the onset of myopia and the progression of established myopia. Future laboratory and clinical investigations should systematically incorporate circadian mechanisms in studying the etiology of myopia and in seeking more effective treatments to normalize eye growth in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard A. Stone
- Department of Ophthalmology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - John W. Tobias
- Penn Genomics and Sequencing Core, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Wenjie Wei
- Department of Ophthalmology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Xia Carlstedt
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Disease, New England College of Optometry, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Lixin Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Disease, New England College of Optometry, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - P. Michael Iuvone
- Department of Ophthalmology & Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Debora L. Nickla
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Disease, New England College of Optometry, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
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Stone RA, Tobias JW, Wei W, Schug J, Wang X, Zhang L, Iuvone PM, Nickla DL. Diurnal retinal and choroidal gene expression patterns support a role for circadian biology in myopia pathogenesis. Sci Rep 2024; 14:533. [PMID: 38177383 PMCID: PMC10767138 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50684-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
The prevalence of myopia (nearsightedness) is increasing to alarming levels, but its etiology remains poorly understood. Because both laboratory and clinical findings suggest an etiologic role for circadian rhythms in myopia development, we assayed gene expression by RNA-Seq in retina and choroid at the onset of unilateral experimental myopia in chick, isolating tissues every 4 h during a single 24-h period from myopic and contralateral control eyes. Occluded versus open eye gene expression differences varied considerably over the 24-h sampling period, with some occurring at multiple times of day but with others showing differences at only a single investigated timepoint. Some of the genes identified in retina or choroid of chick myopia were previously identified as candidate genes for common human myopia. Like differentially expressed genes, pathways identified by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis also varied dramatically by sampling time. Considered with other laboratory data, human genetic and epidemiology data, these findings further implicate circadian events in myopia pathogenesis. The present results emphasize a need to include time of day in mechanistic studies of myopia and to assess circadian biology directly in trying to understand better the origin of myopia and to develop more effective therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard A Stone
- Department of Ophthalmology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| | - John W Tobias
- Penn Genomics and Sequencing Core, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Wenjie Wei
- Department of Ophthalmology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jonathan Schug
- Penn Genomics and Sequencing Core, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Xia Wang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Disease, New England College of Optometry, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lixin Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Disease, New England College of Optometry, Boston, MA, USA
| | - P Michael Iuvone
- Department of Ophthalmology and Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Debora L Nickla
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Disease, New England College of Optometry, Boston, MA, USA
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Thomson K, Karouta C, Weber D, Hoffmann N, Morgan I, Kelly T, Ashby R. The role of the serotonergic system in atropine's anti-myopic effects. Biomed Pharmacother 2023; 167:115542. [PMID: 37742601 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The muscarinic cholinergic antagonist atropine is the most widely used pharmacological treatment for the visual disorder myopia (short-sightedness), the leading cause of low-vision worldwide. This study sought to better define the mechanism by which atropine inhibits myopic growth. Although classified as a muscarinic-cholinergic antagonist, atropine has been found to bind and modulate the activity of several non-cholinergic systems (e.g., serotonin). Thus, this study investigated whether the serotonergic system could underly atropine's anti-myopic effects. Using a chick model of myopia, we report that atropine's growth-inhibitory effects can be attenuated by pharmacological stimulation of the serotonin system. This may suggest that atropine can slow the development of myopia through inhibiting serotonergic receptor activity. We also observed that pharmacological antagonism of serotonergic receptors inhibits the development of experimental myopia in a dose-dependent manner, further demonstrating that modulation of serotonergic receptor activity can alter ocular growth rates. Finally, we found that neither experimental myopia, nor atropine treatment, induced a significant change in retinal serotonergic output (i.e., synthesis, transport, release and catabolism). This may suggest that, although myopic growth can be inhibited through modulation of serotonergic receptor activity (by atropine or serotonergic antagonists), this does not require a change in serotonin levels. These findings regarding a serotonergic mechanism for atropine may have significant ramifications for the treatment of human myopia. This includes assessing the use of atropine in patients who are also undergoing treatment to upregulate serotonergic signaling (e.g., serotonergic anti-depressants).
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Thomson
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Australia.
| | - Cindy Karouta
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Australia
| | - Daniel Weber
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Australia
| | - Nichola Hoffmann
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Australia
| | - Ian Morgan
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Australia
| | - Tamsin Kelly
- Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Australia
| | - Regan Ashby
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Australia; Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Australia
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Gawne TJ, Samal AV, She Z. The effects of intensity, spectral purity and duty cycle on red light-induced hyperopia in tree shrews. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2023; 43:1419-1426. [PMID: 37431102 PMCID: PMC10592436 DOI: 10.1111/opo.13201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2023] [Revised: 06/24/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION There have recently been several clinical studies suggesting that brief periods of exposure to red light (repeated low-level red light, 'RLRL') may produce a dramatic anti-myopia effect, calling for further investigations into its therapeutic parameters. Unfortunately, many experimental species used in refractive studies develop myopia in response to this wavelength. Tree shrews are the only animal model other than rhesus monkeys that consistently exhibit hyperopic responses to ambient red light. Here, tree shrews were used to study the influence of the spectral purity, duty cycle and intensity of red light on its anti-myopic effect. METHODS Juvenile tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri) were raised from 24 to 35 days after eye opening under ambient lighting that was: standard white colony fluorescent light; pure narrow band red light of either 600, 50-100 or 5 lux; red light that was diluted with 10% white light (by lux) or 50% white and 2 s of pure red light that alternated with 2 s of pure white light (50% duty cycle). Refractive measures were taken with a NIDEK ARK-700 autorefractor and axial dimensions with a LenStar LS-900 Axial Biometer. RESULTS The pro-hyperopia effect of ambient red light was greatly reduced by even small amounts of concurrent white light 'contamination', but remained robust if 2-s periods of pure white light alternated with 2 s of red. Finally, the hyperopic effect of red light was maintained at reduced luminance levels in the 50-100 lux range and only failed at 5 lux. CONCLUSIONS These results have implications for understanding the mechanisms by which ambient red light affects refractive development, and possibly also for clinical therapies using RLRL. Nevertheless, it remains to be determined if the mechanism of the current clinical RLRL therapy is the same as that operating on tree shrews in ambient red light.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J. Gawne
- Department of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). USA
| | - Alena V. Samal
- Department of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). USA
- Current Location: MyEyeDr., Birmingham, Alabama. USA
| | - Zhihui She
- Department of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). USA
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Applications of Genomics and Transcriptomics in Precision Medicine for Myopia Control or Prevention. Biomolecules 2023; 13:biom13030494. [PMID: 36979429 PMCID: PMC10046175 DOI: 10.3390/biom13030494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Myopia is a globally emerging concern accompanied by multiple medical and socio-economic burdens with no well-established causal treatment to control thus far. The study of the genomics and transcriptomics of myopia treatment is crucial to delineate disease pathways and provide valuable insights for the design of precise and effective therapeutics. A strong understanding of altered biochemical pathways and underlying pathogenesis leading to myopia may facilitate early diagnosis and treatment of myopia, ultimately leading to the development of more effective preventive and therapeutic measures. In this review, we summarize current data about the genomics and transcriptomics of myopia in human and animal models. We also discuss the potential applicability of these findings to precision medicine for myopia treatment.
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Tomasoni M, Beyeler MJ, Vela SO, Mounier N, Porcu E, Corre T, Krefl D, Button AL, Abouzeid H, Lazaros K, Bochud M, Schlingemann R, Bergin C, Bergmann S. Genome-Wide Association Studies of Retinal Vessel Tortuosity Identify Numerous Novel Loci Revealing Genes and Pathways Associated with Ocular and Cardiometabolic Diseases. OPHTHALMOLOGY SCIENCE 2023; 3:100288. [PMID: 37131961 PMCID: PMC10149284 DOI: 10.1016/j.xops.2023.100288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023]
Abstract
Purpose To identify novel susceptibility loci for retinal vascular tortuosity, to better understand the molecular mechanisms modulating this trait, and reveal causal relationships with diseases and their risk factors. Design Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS) of vascular tortuosity of retinal arteries and veins followed by replication meta-analysis and Mendelian randomization (MR). Participants We analyzed 116 639 fundus images of suitable quality from 63 662 participants from 3 cohorts, namely the UK Biobank (n = 62 751), the Swiss Kidney Project on Genes in Hypertension (n = 397), and OphtalmoLaus (n = 512). Methods Using a fully automated retina image processing pipeline to annotate vessels and a deep learning algorithm to determine the vessel type, we computed the median arterial, venous and combined vessel tortuosity measured by the distance factor (the length of a vessel segment over its chord length), as well as by 6 alternative measures that integrate over vessel curvature. We then performed the largest GWAS of these traits to date and assessed gene set enrichment using the novel high-precision statistical method PascalX. Main Outcome Measure We evaluated the genetic association of retinal tortuosity, measured by the distance factor. Results Higher retinal tortuosity was significantly associated with higher incidence of angina, myocardial infarction, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, and hypertension. We identified 175 significantly associated genetic loci in the UK Biobank; 173 of these were novel and 4 replicated in our second, much smaller, metacohort. We estimated heritability at ∼25% using linkage disequilibrium score regression. Vessel type specific GWAS revealed 116 loci for arteries and 63 for veins. Genes with significant association signals included COL4A2, ACTN4, LGALS4, LGALS7, LGALS7B, TNS1, MAP4K1, EIF3K, CAPN12, ECH1, and SYNPO2. These tortuosity genes were overexpressed in arteries and heart muscle and linked to pathways related to the structural properties of the vasculature. We demonstrated that retinal tortuosity loci served pleiotropic functions as cardiometabolic disease variants and risk factors. Concordantly, MR revealed causal effects between tortuosity, body mass index, and low-density lipoprotein. Conclusions Several alleles associated with retinal vessel tortuosity suggest a common genetic architecture of this trait with ocular diseases (glaucoma, myopia), cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic syndrome. Our results shed new light on the genetics of vascular diseases and their pathomechanisms and highlight how GWASs and heritability can be used to improve phenotype extraction from high-dimensional data, such as images. Financial Disclosures The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Tomasoni
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Jules-Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michael Johannes Beyeler
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sofia Ortin Vela
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Ninon Mounier
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Eleonora Porcu
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Tanguy Corre
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Krefl
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Luke Button
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Hana Abouzeid
- Division of Ophthalmology, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
- Clinical Eye Research Center Memorial Adolphe de Rothschild, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Murielle Bochud
- Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Reinier Schlingemann
- Jules-Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Ophthalmology, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Sven Bergmann
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Correspondence: Sven Bergmann, PhD, University of Lausanne, Genopode, Lausanne 1016, Switzerland.
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Huang Y, Chen X, Zhuang J, Yu K. The Role of Retinal Dysfunction in Myopia Development. Cell Mol Neurobiol 2022:10.1007/s10571-022-01309-1. [DOI: 10.1007/s10571-022-01309-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Ji S, Ye L, Zhang L, Xu D, Dai J. Retinal neurodegeneration in a mouse model of green-light-induced myopia. Exp Eye Res 2022; 223:109208. [DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2022.109208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Revised: 07/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Thomson K, Game J, Karouta C, Morgan IG, Ashby R. Correlation between small-scale methylation changes and gene expression during the development of myopia. FASEB J 2021; 36:e22129. [PMID: 34958689 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202101487r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Visually induced changes in the expression of early growth response-1 (EGR1), FBJ osteosarcoma oncogene (FOS), and NGFI-A binding protein-2 (NAB2) appear to form a part of a retinal network fundamental to ocular growth regulation, and thus, the development of myopia (short-sightedness). However, it is unclear how environmental (visual) cues are translated into these molecular changes. One possibility is through epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation, a known regulator of such processes. By sequencing bisulfite-converted DNA amplicons, this study examined whether changes in DNA methylation occur within specific regulatory and promoter regions of EGR1, FOS, and NAB2 during the periods of increased and decreased ocular growth in chicks. Visually induced changes in ocular growth rates were associated with single-point, but not large-scale, shifts in methylation levels within the investigated regions. Analysis of methylation pattern variability (entropy) demonstrated that the observed methylation changes are occurring within small subpopulations of retinal cells. This concurs with previous observations that EGR1 and FOS are differentially regulated at the peptide level within specific retinal cell types. Together, the findings of this study support a potential role for DNA methylation in the translation of external visual cues into molecular changes critical for ocular growth regulation and myopia development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Thomson
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Jeremy Game
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Cindy Karouta
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Ian G Morgan
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Regan Ashby
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
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