Abstract
Presentation Description :
Müller cells have long been recognized as a critical component of retinal function. Recently, a growing literature is demonstrating Müller cells to be some of the first responders to retinal disease, rapidly changing their profiles metabolically and morphologically. Many Müller cell functions require close physical relationships between the Müller cell and the synapses of the neurons they support. Despite this required neuro-glial relationship, little is known about the direct contacts between Müller cells and synapses in healthy or diseased retinas. In order to address this, I use a connectomics/pathoconnectomics approach to reconstruct Müller cells and their neighboring synapses. The retinas evaluated are from a healthy rabbit, retinal connectome 1 (RC1), and from the P347L rabbit model of retinitis pigmentosa, retinal pathoconnectome 1 (RPC1). Preliminary data demonstrate an increase in endfoot entanglement in RPC1 when compared with RC1, and direct synaptic contact analysis of both connectomes is ongoing.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.