| Presentation preference | Oral presentation |
| Title | Unraveling the functions of the purinergic receptor P2X7 in experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) |
| Purpose | Uveitis are inflammatory eye diseases of various origins which can be debilitating and lead to blindness. During disease, damaged cells release high levels of extracellular ATP, which constitutes a potent danger signal. The purinergic receptor P2X7 is the main sensor of high amounts of extracellular ATP and its activation triggers an inflammatory response and/or induces cell death. P2X7 expression is increased in various neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases, in particular P2X7 was shown to be up-regulated in monocytes from patients with Behçet’s disease. Thus, P2X7 may contribute to the development of uveitis via its expression on immune cells. Our data showed that P2X7 is expressed in the different immune cell subpopulations in the retina during EAU. Given the multiple functions of P2X7, its activation could play distinct roles in the development of the disease depending on the cell type that expresses it. |
| Methods | We investigated the function of P2X7 using active and passive EAU models and new conditional P2X7 knockout mouse strains. |
| Results | Although we found no significant effect of P2X7 invalidation in T-cells, we showed that the severity of EAU was significantly reduced when P2X7 was specifically depleted in retinal microglia and infiltrating macrophages. The decreased severity was associated with reduced expression of inflammatory mediators. |
| Conclusion | Thus, targeted inhibition of P2X7 could be a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of uveitis. |
| Conflict of interest | No |
Authors 1
| Last name | DELARASSE |
| Initials of first name(s) | C |
| Department | Institut de la Vision - Sorbonne University |
| City | Paris |
| Country | France |
Authors 2
| Last name | Dechelle-Marquet |
| Initials of first name(s) | P-A |
| Department | Institut de la Vision - Sorbonne University |
| City | Paris |
| Country | France |
Authors 3
| Last name | Lagouge-Roussey |
| Initials of first name(s) | P |
| Department | Institut de la Vision - Sorbonne University |
| City | Paris |
| Country | France |
Authors 4
| Last name | Augustin |
| Initials of first name(s) | S |
| Department | Institut de la Vision - Sorbonne University |
| City | Paris |
| Country | France |
Authors 5
| Last name | Touhami |
| Initials of first name(s) | S |
| Department | Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière - Sorbonne University |
| City | Paris |
| Country | France |
Authors 6
| Last name | Bodaghi |
| Initials of first name(s) | B |
| Department | Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière - Sorbonne University |
| City | Paris |
| Country | France |
Authors 7
| Last name | Guillonneau |
| Initials of first name(s) | X |
| Department | Institut de la Vision - Sorbonne University |
| City | Paris |
| Country | France |
Authors 8
| Last name | Sennlaub |
| Initials of first name(s) | F |
| Department | Institut de la Vision - Sorbonne University |
| City | Paris |
| Country | France |
