SINGLE CELL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE REGULONS IN THE HUMAN OCULAR COMPARTMENTS

Abstract

The human eye is a complex organ comprising of cell types from different developmental origins. In our work, we try to understand diverse cell types of human eye using single cell RNA sequencing. In the process, we identify and catalogue more than fifty thousand cells across tissues like retina, iris, cornea, choroid, sclera, and retinal pigmented epithelium. We compare human retinal cells with mouse, pig, macaque, and zebrafish retinae to find the conserved transcription factors. Such studies are the first step towards understanding eye diseases and age-related eye disorders. We also find interesting cell types in iris tissue which might have stem cell-like properties. Finally, we validate role of one of the transcription factor KLF7 and show that it accelerates retinal ganglion cell generation by fine-tuning expression of other key transcription factors