Fig. 10: A model explaining shifts of cell states along the RGC trajectory in the wild-type and Atoh7-null retina. | Nature Communications

Fig. 10: A model explaining shifts of cell states along the RGC trajectory in the wild-type and Atoh7-null retina.

From: Single cell transcriptomics reveals lineage trajectory of retinal ganglion cells in wild-type and Atoh7-null retinas

Fig. 10

The RGC trajectory follows four cell states, including naive RPCs, transitional RPCs, nascent RGCs, and differentiated RGCs. The direction of the trajectory is indicated by the arrow and the progression of the trajectory is indicated by a color gradient. Each state is determined by a group of genes and example genes are given in colored circles. The transition from one state to the next is dictated by the downregulation of genes representing that state and upregulation of genes for the next state as indicated by the sizes of the colored circles. In the transitional RPCs, Atoh7, likely in combination with the SoxC factors, competes with other regulators to drive them to the RGC fate. In the Atoh7-null retina, the establishment of the transitional RPC state is not affected, and nascent RGCs still form through the expression of some, but not all, RGC genes (represented by a smaller circle with broken lines). The mutant nascent RGCs fail to reach the full RGC state and many eventually die by apoptosis (indicated by a striped background).

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