Unveiling the impact of electroacupuncture on retinal cells in myopic guinea pigs via single-cell sequencing.

Abstract

Myopia has become a major public health issue, and abnormal retinal tissue function is widely recognized as a key factor in its occurrence and development. Existing studies have shown that electroacupuncture (EA) intervention can significantly inhibit the progression of myopia, but the specific cellular mechanisms by which EA regulates retinal cell function remain unclear. In this study, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology was used to systematically explore the effects of EA on the functional characteristics of various retinal cells in myopic guinea pigs. The research methods are as follows: Based on scRNA-seq data, inter-group metabolic differences were analyzed through scMetabolism; the functional significance of differentially expressed genes was evaluated by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA); core genes were screened by high-dimensional weighted co-expression network analysis (Hd-WGCNA) and pseudo-time trajectory analysis; and the expression levels of core genes were verified by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blotting experiments. The results show that EA treatment can alleviate the oxidative stress response induced by myopia, enhance intercellular communication, and thereby maintain retinal homeostasis. At the same time, it can significantly improve the phototransduction dysfunction of cone cells related to myopia, mainly by regulating the abnormal expression of PDE6H and GNGT2 genes. In addition, EA can also regulate the expression of the DBI gene in Müller glial cells (MG) and promote the dynamic state transition of microglia, inhibiting their inflammation-responsive phenotype, thereby inhibiting the expression of IL-1β and reducing the inflammatory response. In conclusion, this study systematically clarified the effects of EA treatment on MG, photoreceptor cone cells and microglia in the retina of myopic guinea pigs, providing new insights into the mechanism by which EA alleviates the progression of myopia.