P678: Molecular phenotyping of T cells in the glaucomatous retina

Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease that causes loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGC), leading to subsequent vision loss. Previous adoptive transfer studies have indicated a role for T cell-mediated mechanisms in RGC loss in glaucoma. Despite the immune privileged status of the retina, a small number of T cells are routinely observed in both healthy and glaucomatous eyes. The molecular characteristics of these T cells during glaucoma pathology remain poorly understood. We sought to characterize the T cell population in the retina of a pre-clinical glaucoma model induced by chronic intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation using single nuclei transcriptomics.