Mapping the Human Retina Fast-Tracks Vision Research

Through the international Human Cell Atlas initiative, development of the most comprehensive human retina cell atlas to date is accelerating research into retinal disorders.

We now have a map to better guide research into vision disorders.

After analyzing nearly 4 million individual retinal cells from 125 human donors, integrating data from multiple studies conducted worldwide, researchers have created the most comprehensive human retina cell atlas to date. The atlas identifies more than 130 distinct retinal cell types.

“This landmark resource provides a shared reference framework at single-cell resolution, delivering an unprecedented, comprehensive cellular map of the human retina,” says Rui Chen, PhD, a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences in the UC Irvine School of Medicine.

Developed as part of the international Human Cell Atlas initiative, the atlas captures how retinal cell populations vary across age, ancestry and different regions of the retina. “It provides valuable insights into normal aging as well as population-level diversity,” says Jin Li, PhD, an assistant researcher in the Chen Lab who worked on the project with Chen and researcher Yumei Li, PhD.

Chen, Jin Li and Yumei Li collaborated on the project with a large group of researchers from a variety of universities, including Fabian J. Theis of Helmholtz Zentrum München, Tim Stout of the Baylor College of Medicine, and Margaret M. DeAngelis of SUNY Buffalo. They present their work in the Nature Genetics paper, “Single-Cell Atlas of the Transcriptome and Chromatin Accessibility in the Human Retina.” The paper outlines how the team used state-of-the-art single-cell omics technologies to create the multimodal atlas.

“The atlas enables a deeper understanding of gene regulatory networks across all retinal cell types, helps pinpoint how genetic variants associated with eye diseases act in specific cells, and provides a unified reference framework for the field,” says Chen. “We expect it to accelerate research into the biology and disease of the human retina.”

This work was primarily funded through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.