Effect of Müller Cells on the Survival and Neuritogenesis in Retinal Ganglion Cells

Objective: Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the first affected cells in neuropathies like glaucoma, for that reason it is very important to explore new methods to neuroprotect these neurons. Müller cells are glial cells that provide the neurons with trophic factors and scaffold. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of Müller cells on survival and neurite formation in RGCs.

Method: Rat Müller cells were grown until a confluent culture on which rat RGCs were added, using pure culture of rat RGCs as controls. RGCs were labeled with βIII-tubulin, and Müller cells with glutamine synthetase antibodies. In addition, nuclei were stained with DAPI. The number of RGCs and number and neurite length were measured.

Results: No differences were found in the number of RGCs between control and cells grown on the substrate of Müller cells. The proportion of RGCs with neurites increased when they grew on Müller (RGCs with 1-3 neurites increased from 19% to 43%. The length of neurites also increased in RGCs grown on Müller cells, with the number of RGCs with neurites from 50 to 200μm increasing from 21% to 41%, and with neurites of more than 200μm the increase was from 6% to 20%.

Conclusions: Müller cells support the survival of RGCs and induced an increase in the number and length of neurites of RGCs.