PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Ameera Mungale AU - David M. McGaughey AU - Congxiao Zhang AU - Sairah Yousaf AU - James Liu AU - Brian P. Brooks AU - Arvydas Maminishkis AU - Temesgen D. Fufa AU - Robert B. Hufnagel TI - Transcriptional mapping of the macaque retina and RPE-choroid reveals conserved inter-tissue transcription drivers and signaling pathways AID - 10.1101/2022.01.21.477280 DP - 2022 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 2022.01.21.477280 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/23/2022.01.21.477280.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/23/2022.01.21.477280.full AB - Purpose The macula and fovea comprise a highly sensitive visual detection tissue that is susceptible to common disease processes like age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Our understanding of the molecular determinants of high acuity vision remains unclear, as few model organisms possess a human-like fovea. We explore transcription factor networks and receptor-ligand interactions to elucidate tissue interactions in the macula and peripheral retina and concomitant changes in the underlying retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)/choroid.Methods Poly-A selected, 100 bp paired-end RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed across the macular/foveal, perimacular, and temporal peripheral regions of the neural retina and RPE/choroid tissues of four adult Rhesus macaque eyes to characterize region- and tissue-specific gene expression. RNA-seq reads were mapped to both the macaque and human genomes for maximum alignment and analyzed for differential expression and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment.Results Comparison of the neural retina and RPE/choroid tissues indicated distinct, contiguously changing gene expression profiles from fovea through perimacula to periphery. Top GO enrichment of differentially expressed genes in the RPE/choroid included cell junction organization and epithelial cell development. Expression of transcriptional regulators and various disease-associated genes show distinct location-specific preference and retina-RPE/choroid tissue-tissue interactions.Conclusions Regional gene expression changes in the macaque retina and RPE/choroid is greater than that found in previously published transcriptome analysis of the human retina and RPE/choroid. Further, conservation of human macula-specific transcription factor profiles and gene expression in macaque tissues suggest a conservation of programs required for retina and RPE/choroid function and disease susceptibility.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.