Müller cells provide support to photoreceptors under many conditions of stress and degeneration. Leukemia inhibitory factor is known to be expressed in Müller cells, which is necessary to promote photoreceptor survival in stress. We hypothesize that Müller cells that express LIF are undergoing other biological processes or functions which may benefit photoreceptors in disease. In this study, we analyze an existing single Müller cell microarray dataset to determine which processes are upregulated in Müller cells that express LIF, by correlating LIF expression to the expression of other genes using a robust correlation method. Some enriched processes include divalent inorganic cation homeostasis, negative regulation of stem cell proliferation, and gamma-glutamyl transferase activity.
Keywords: Gene expression; Glia; Leukemia inhibitory factor; Müller cell; Neuroprotection; Photoreceptor degeneration; Retinal degeneration; Stress.