LIRTS Viewer: A Web-Based Resource to View the Transcriptional Response of Lens Epithelial Cells to Injury.

Purpose: Residual lens epithelial cells (LECs) respond to injury after cataract surgery, leading to posterior capsular opacification (PCO). Transcriptomic profiling of lens capsule-associated cells (CACs) post-cataract surgery (PCS) revealed that LECs quickly alter their transcriptome, producing numerous pro-inflammatory cytokines within a few hours PCS. In contrast, the significant activation of TGFβ signaling and fibrotic extracellular matrix deposition related to PCO only begins 1 to 3 days later. However, the global changes in gene expression in CACs, following the establishment of robust TGFβ signaling, remain unknown. Methods: Lens fiber cells were removed from wild-type mice, and CACs were isolated at 0, 72, or 120 hours PCS to perform bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to obtain estimates of RNA abundance. These data were combined with existing RNA-seq datasets to create a web-based visualization resource to explore the expression dynamics of most protein coding genes in CACs. Results: At 72 hours PCS, CACs differentially express genes consistent with a surge in proliferation and changes in actin filament organization while also robustly expressing fibrotic marker genes by 120 hours PCS. We developed a data visualization resource, the Lens Injury Response Time Series (LIRTS) Viewer, which integrates all data to gather valuable insights from gene expression in CACs over the first 5 days PCS. Conclusions: The LIRTS Viewer is useful for generating hypotheses related to PCO pathogenesis, as it reveals CAC gene expression dynamics, gene correlations, and biological pathways during the first 5 days following lens injury in an in vivo cataract surgery model.