Transcriptomic Analysis of Organotypic Porcine Retina Cultures.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Neuroscience
• Genomics

Background:

• Porcine organotypic retinal explant cultures are vital for studying retinal neurodegeneration.
• The long-term biological changes in these explants due to injury and culture are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To generate a time-resolved transcriptomic reference for porcine neural retinal explants cultured ex vivo for 10 days.
• To characterize gene expression dynamics and pathway alterations during explant culture.

Main Methods:

• Cultured porcine neural retinal explants ex vivo for 10 days.
• Performed time-resolved transcriptomic analysis (RNA sequencing).
• Analyzed global gene expression profiles and pathway-level changes.

Main Results:

• Gene expression profiles clearly separated by culture time, with Day 0 distinct from later time points.
• 3187 genes were differentially expressed relative to Day 0, with major shifts early in culture (Day 1-3).
• Identified coordinated remodeling of inflammatory signaling and metabolic/bioenergetic pathways, including reduced mitochondrial function at later stages.

Conclusions:

• The generated dataset provides a foundational reference for interpreting porcine retinal explant data.
• This resource aids in distinguishing culture-inherent changes from treatment effects.
• Facilitates selection of optimal experimental time windows for retinal degeneration studies.