{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]],"date-time":"2026-08-21T12:25:27Z","timestamp":1787315127297,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,22]],"date-time":"2021-11-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637539200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Science and Technology Department, Hunan Province","award":["2018RS3123; 2020CB1002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2018RS3123; 2020CB1002"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Myopia is the second leading cause of visual impairment globally. Myopia can induce sight-threatening retinal degeneration and the underlying mechanism remains poorly defined. We generated a model of myopia-induced early-stage retinal degeneration in guinea pigs and investigated the mechanism of action. Methods: The form-deprivation-induced myopia (FDM) was induced in the right eyes of 2~3-week-old guinea pigs using a translucent balloon for 15 weeks. The left eye remained untreated and served as a self-control. Another group of untreated age-matched animals was used as na\u00efve controls. The refractive error and ocular biometrics were measured at 3, 7, 9, 12 and 15 weeks post-FDM induction. Visual function was evaluated by electroretinography. Retinal neurons and synaptic structures were examined by confocal microscopy of immunolabelled retinal sections. The total RNAs were extracted from the retinas and processed for RNA sequencing analysis. Results: The FDM eyes presented a progressive axial length elongation and refractive error development. After 15 weeks of intervention, the average refractive power was \u22123.40 \u00b1 1.85 D in the FDM eyes, +2.94 \u00b1 0.59 D and +2.69 \u00b1 0.56 D in the self-control and na\u00efve control eyes, respectively. The a-wave amplitude was significantly lower in FDM eyes and these eyes had a significantly lower number of rods, secretagogin+ bipolar cells, and GABAergic amacrine cells in selected retinal areas. RNA-seq analysis showed that 288 genes were upregulated and 119 genes were downregulated in FDM retinas compared to na\u00efve control retinas. In addition, 152 genes were upregulated and 12 were downregulated in FDM retinas compared to self-control retinas. The KEGG enrichment analysis showed that tyrosine metabolism, ABC transporters and inflammatory pathways were upregulated, whereas tight junction, lipid and glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis were downregulated in FDM eyes. Conclusions: The long-term (15-week) FDM in the guinea pig models induced an early-stage retinal degeneration. The dysregulation of the tyrosine metabolism and inflammatory pathways may contribute to the pathogenesis of myopia-induced retinal degeneration.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms222212598","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,30]],"date-time":"2021-11-30T04:48:37Z","timestamp":1638247717000},"page":"12598","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":45,"title":["RNA-Seq Analysis Reveals an Essential Role of the Tyrosine Metabolic Pathway and Inflammation in Myopia-Induced Retinal Degeneration in Guinea Pigs"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2230-9776","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ling","family":"Zeng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Aier School of Ophthalmology, Central South University, Changsha 410000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoning","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aier Eye Hospital, Changsha 410000, China"},{"name":"Aier School of Optometry and Vision Science, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China"},{"name":"Aier Institute of Optometry and Vision Science, Changsha 410000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jian","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aier Institute of Optometry and Vision Science, Changsha 410000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hong","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aier Institute of Optometry and Vision Science, Changsha 410000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4000-931X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Heping","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aier School of Ophthalmology, Central South University, Changsha 410000, China"},{"name":"Aier Institute of Optometry and Vision Science, Changsha 410000, China"},{"name":"The Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen\u2019s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhikuan","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aier School of Ophthalmology, Central South University, Changsha 410000, China"},{"name":"Aier School of Optometry and Vision Science, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China"},{"name":"Aier Institute of Optometry and Vision Science, Changsha 410000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"614","DOI":"10.1136\/bjophthalmol-2011-300539","article-title":"Global estimates of visual impairment: 2010","volume":"96","author":"Pascolini","year":"2012","journal-title":"Br. 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