Angiopoietin-like protein 7 (ANGPTL7)-mediated effects on resident immune cells contribute to neurodegeneration in glaucomatous optic nerve head
- 1Novartis Biomedical Research
Abstract
Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy characterized by progressive retinal degeneration. Population genetic analyses describe an association of variants in angiopoietin-like protein 7 (ANGPTL7) with lower intraocular pressure (IOP) and decreased glaucoma susceptibility. In addition to its reported role in the trabecular meshwork (TM), we demonstrate that ANGPTL7 is also expressed within disease-relevant cell types of the human posterior eye, specifically prelaminar optic nerve head astrocytes (ONHA). Contrasting with previously published findings, we observe no difference in IOP between Angptl7-/- mice and wild-type littermates. Despite absence of an IOP phenotype, loss of ANGPTL7 protects from IOPinduced retinal ganglion cell (RGC) damage in a rodent glaucoma neurodegeneration model. ANGPTL7 may signal through LAIR1-positive immune cells, potentially contributing to pro-inflammatory signaling and phenotypic modulation of resident immune cells, with evidence suggesting that oligomerization of ANGPTL7 is necessary for its activity. Comprehensively, our data highlight an unappreciated role of ANGPTL7 in modulating neuroinflammation in the posterior eye, contributing to glaucoma progression.
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BibTeX
@misc{vollmer2026angiopoietinlike,
title = {{Angiopoietin-like protein 7 (ANGPTL7)-mediated effects on resident immune cells contribute to neurodegeneration in glaucomatous optic nerve head}},
author = {T. R. Vollmer and K. Dolan and C. Xiang and A. Banks and E. M. Cooney and J. Heyder and C. C. King and J. Vrouvlianis and A. N. Gujar and N. D. Kirkpatrick and X. Wu and C. Jones and L. J. Miraglia and A. P. Orth and Y. Qiu and M. Prentiss and I. S. Hassan and J. Kwan and R. Garcia Caro and L. Fan and Y. Wang and S.-Y. Niu and C.-L. Huang and V. Raghunathan and A. Chen and N. Vo and A. Chui and R. Esterberg and G. Prasanna and C. W. Wilson},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.27.751872},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.27.751872v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Angiopoietin-like protein 7 (ANGPTL7)-mediated effects on resident immune cells contribute to neurodegeneration in glaucomatous optic nerve head
AU - T. R. Vollmer
AU - K. Dolan
AU - C. Xiang
AU - A. Banks
AU - E. M. Cooney
AU - J. Heyder
AU - C. C. King
AU - J. Vrouvlianis
AU - A. N. Gujar
AU - N. D. Kirkpatrick
AU - X. Wu
AU - C. Jones
AU - L. J. Miraglia
AU - A. P. Orth
AU - Y. Qiu
AU - M. Prentiss
AU - I. S. Hassan
AU - J. Kwan
AU - R. Garcia Caro
AU - L. Fan
AU - Y. Wang
AU - S.-Y. Niu
AU - C.-L. Huang
AU - V. Raghunathan
AU - A. Chen
AU - N. Vo
AU - A. Chui
AU - R. Esterberg
AU - G. Prasanna
AU - C. W. Wilson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/27
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.27.751872
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.27.751872v1
AB - Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy characterized by progressive retinal degeneration. Population genetic analyses describe an association of variants in angiopoietin-like protein 7 (ANGPTL7) with lower intraocular pressure (IOP) and decreased glaucoma susceptibility. In addition to its reported role in the trabecular meshwork (TM), we demonstrate that ANGPTL7 is also expressed within disease-relevant cell types of the human posterior eye, specifically prelaminar optic nerve head astrocytes (ONHA). Contrasting with previously published findings, we observe no difference in IOP between Angptl7-/- mice and wild-type littermates. Despite absence of an IOP phenotype, loss of ANGPTL7 protects from IOPinduced retinal ganglion cell (RGC) damage in a rodent glaucoma neurodegeneration model. ANGPTL7 may signal through LAIR1-positive immune cells, potentially contributing to pro-inflammatory signaling and phenotypic modulation of resident immune cells, with evidence suggesting that oligomerization of ANGPTL7 is necessary for its activity. Comprehensively, our data highlight an unappreciated role of ANGPTL7 in modulating neuroinflammation in the posterior eye, contributing to glaucoma progression.
ER -