A journey into the retina: Müller Glia commanding survival and death

PAULA VIRGINIA SUBIRADA CALDARONE; MARIA CONSTANZA PAZ; VALERIA E LORENC; JUAN CARLOS STUPIRSKI; LAURA GRAMAJO; JOSE D LUNA PINTO; DIEGO OMAR CROCI; GABRIEL ADRIAN RABINOVICH; MARIA CECILIA SANCHEZ; MARIA CONSTANZA PAZ;; RIDANO MAGALI E; LORENC VE; VAGLIENTI MV; BARCELONA PF; LUNA JD; SANCHEZ, MARIA CECILIA

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE

Wiley Online Library

Año: 2018 vol. 47 p. 1429 - 1443

0953-816X

Müller Glial Cells (MGCs) are known to participate actively in retinal development and to contribute to homeostasis through many intracellular mechanisms. As there are no homologous cells in other neuronal tissues, it is certain that retinal health depends on MGCs. These macroglial cells are located at the centre of the columnar subunit and have a great ability to interact with neurons, astrocytes, microglia and endothelial cells in order to modulate different events. Several investigations have focused their attention on the role of MGCs in diabetic retinopathy, a progressive pathology where several insults coexist. As expected, data suggest that MGCs display different responses according to the severity of the stimulus, and therefore trigger distinct events throughout the course of the disease. Here, we describe physiological functions of MGCs and their participation in inflammation, gliosis, synthesis and secretion of trophic and antioxidant factors in the diabetic retina. We invite the reader to consider the protective/deleterious role of MGCs in the early and late stages of the disease. In light of the results, we open up the discussion around and ask the question: is it possible that the modulation of a single cell type could improve or even re-establish retinal function after an injury?