Topic: retinal pigment epithelium

Most forms of induced and inherited retinal degeneration involve induction of neuroinflammation that is characterized by changes in Müller glia and microglia, and at least some of these changes accelerate vision loss in advanced blinding diseases. The specific triggers, hierarchy of molecular steps, and cellular interactions that promote these changes initially are still largely obscure. However, it is generally thought that Müller glia and microglia activation is secondary to distress signals and cellular debris following programmed cell death of photoreceptor or other neurons in the retina.