Vergara, Natalia1; James, Ethan1; Li, Helen1; Lee, Byoungin1
1Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Purpose: The neuropathological features that characterize Alzheimer’s disease (AD), including the presence of beta-amyloid (Aß) plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles of abnormally phosphorylated Tau proteins (pTau), are evidenced not only in the brain but also in the retina. This is likely to contribute to the visual manifestations of AD. In this context, hiPSC-derived retinal organoids offer new opportunities for AD modeling for drug development applications. Retinal organoids mimic the histoarchitecture of the native retina, have a consistent cellular composition, and are optically clear. Moreover, quantitative technologies have been established to facilitate assay design in these models without loss of their 3D structure. Thus, we set out to develop and characterize an hiPSC-derived retinal organoid model of AD that can be applied to the evaluation of pathophysiological mechanisms and to the validation of potential therapeutic drugs.
Methods: Human iPSC-derived retinal organoids were generated from three healthy control (HC) and two familial AD (fAD) donors using the Zhong et al. (2014) protocol. Organoid structure, cellular composition and AD histopathology were assessed at three and six months of differentiation by immunofluorescence and histological staining, including retinal cell type-specific markers as well as Aβ, pathological pTau forms, and NIAD-4 staining for amyloid plaques. We also developed a NIAD-4 fluorescence-based assay for amyloid quantification in intact organoids using 3D-ARQ technology.
Results: We found similarities in the cellular composition of AD and HC retinal organoids, confirming the validity of the models. However, pathological Tau hyperphosphorylation and Aß deposits were significantly increased in AD retinal organoids compared to HCs. Finally, we developed proof of concept of a quantitative assay for amyloid plaque detection that is amenable to translational research applications.
Conclusions: Our AD retinal organoid models mimic critical aspects of the histopathology of the human AD retina and constitute valuable tools for the screening and validation of candidate molecules with therapeutic potential.
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