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Updated: Mar 10, 2026

Laser Capture Microdissection of Highly Pure Trabecular Meshwork from Mouse Eyes for Gene Expression Analysis
Published on: June 3, 2018
Systems Genetics Analysis to Identify the Genetic Modulation of a Glaucoma-Associated Gene
Sumana R Chintalapudi1, Monica M Jablonski2,3,4
1Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Hamilton Eye Institute, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 930 Madison Ave., Suite 710, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA.
Abstract:
Loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) is one of the hallmarks of retinal neurodegenerative diseases, glaucoma being one of the most common. Recently, γ-synuclein (SNCG) was shown to be highly expressed in the somas and axons of RGCs. In various mouse models of glaucoma, downregulation of Sncg gene expression correlates with RGC loss. To investigate the regulation of Sncg in RGCs, we used a systems genetics approach to identify a gene that modulates the expression of Sncg, followed by confirmatory studies in both healthy and diseased retinas. We found that chromosome 1 harbors an eQTL that modulates the expression of Sncg in the mouse retina and identified Pfdn2 as the candidate upstream modulator of Sncg expression. Downregulation of Pfdn2 in enriched RGCs causes a concomitant reduction in Sncg. In this chapter, we describe our strategy and methods for identifying and confirming a genetic modulation of a glaucoma-associated gene. A similar method can be applied to other genes expressed in other tissues.
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