@article{6473be8f042848bb93a4417d53a21920,
title = "Atoh7-independent specification of retinal ganglion cell identity",
abstract = "Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) relay visual information from the eye to the brain. RGCs are the first cell type generated during retinal neurogenesis. Loss of function of the transcription factor Atoh7, expressed in multipotent early neurogenic retinal progenitors leads to a selective and essentially complete loss of RGCs. Therefore, Atoh7 is considered essential for conferring competence on progenitors to generate RGCs. Despite the importance of Atoh7 in RGC specification, we find that inhibiting apoptosis in Atoh7-deficient mice by loss of function of Bax only modestly reduces RGC numbers. Single-cell RNA sequencing of Atoh7;Bax-deficient retinas shows that RGC differentiation is delayed but that the gene expression profile of RGC precursors is grossly normal. Atoh7;Baxdeficient RGCs eventually mature, fire action potentials, and incorporate into retinal circuitry but exhibit severe axonal guidance defects. This study reveals an essential role for Atoh7 in RGC survival and demonstrates Atoh7dependent and Atoh7-independent mechanisms for RGC specification.",
author = "Justin Brodie-Kommit and Clark, {Brian S.} and Qing Shi and Fion Shiau and Kim, {Dong Won} and Jennifer Langel and Catherine Sheely and Ruzycki, {Philip A.} and Michel Fries and Awais Javed and Michel Cayouette and Tiffany Schmidt and Tudor Badea and Tom Glaser and Haiqing Zhao and Joshua Singer and Seth Blackshaw and Samer Hattar",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by NIH grants R01EY020560 (S.B.), R00EY27844 (B.S.C.), EY19497 (T.G.), GM076430 and EY027202 (S.H. and H.Z.), EY021372 (J.S.), and F32 EY022543 (T.S.); the intramural research fund at the National Institute of Mental Health (MH002964) (S.H.); an unrestricted grant to the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences from Research to Prevent Blindness (B.S.C. and P.A.R.); and grants from the Krembil Foundation/Brain Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research FDN159936 (M.C.). Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BYNC).",
year = "2021",
month = mar,
day = "12",
doi = "10.1126/SCIADV.ABE4983",
language = "English",
volume = "7",
journal = "Science Advances",
issn = "2375-2548",
number = "11",
}