Roles of Müller glial-mesenchymal transition in retinal fibrosis diseases

Abstract

Glial-mesenchymal transition(GMT)is a biological process of transdifferentiation where endothelial cells gradually adopt the phenotypic characteristics of mesenchymal cells under the influence of various factors. GMT is closely associated with retinal fibrosis diseases. Müller cells, the predominant retinal macroglia, undergo activation and transdifferentiation in response to diverse stimuli and pathological conditions. Researches indicate that GMT plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of diseases such as diabetic retinopathy(DR), idiopathic epiretinal membrane(iERM), age-related macular degeneration(ARMD), and proliferative vitreoretinopathy(PVR). Although the exact mechanism of GMT is not well understood, it has showed great promise as potential target. Clarifying the research progress of GMT provides new ideas in the early diagnosis and treatments of retinal diseases, which is clinically and scientifically important for revealing interactive effects of cell transdifferentiation families in retinal diseases.

Keywords

• müller cells
• glial-mesenchymal transition
• retinal fibrosis