Liv Taylor, PhD candidate, Spring 2025

“Sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling regulates the ability of Müller glia to become neurogenic, proliferating progenitor-like cells” eLife 2024.    

This study investigates how Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) signaling regulates glial phenotype, de-differentiation of Müller glia, reprogramming into proliferating MG-derived progenitor cells (MGPCs), and neuronal differentiation of the progeny of MGPCs in the retina. Evidence from scRNA-seq analyses indicates that S1P-related genes are highly expressed by Müller glia, and levels of expression are dynamically regulated following neuronal damage in chick, zebrafish and human retinas. Evidence is provided that S1P signaling activates cell signaling pathways in MG that suppress reprogramming into proliferating, neurogenic MGPCs, and activation of S1P signaling depends, in part, on signals produced by reactive microglia via TGFβ/Smad3.

link to full length paper