Figure 11.

RD pathological condition shifts the Müller glial TRPV4 activation and accelerates photoreceptor cell death. The green color represents the morphology of the Müller glial cells in normal or RD retinas. In normal retina, TRPV4 is activated by body temperature and contributed to the homeostatic functions of Müller glial cells. In contrast, RD induced significant Müller glial swelling, and this caused further activation of TRPV4 by membrane stretch in addition to that by body temperature. TRPV4 activation induced the Ca²⁺ influx and evoked MCP-1 release from the Müller glial cells. The MCP-1 recruited many macrophages, and those cells attacked and killed photoreceptors (shown by gray color). Thus, RD adversely impacts photoreceptor viability via TRPV4-dependent MCP-1 release from Müller glial cells.