Fig. 3

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals the involvement of the Wnt, HIF-1, and glycolytic pathways in the mechanism of photoreceptor damage in db/db diabetic mice. A UMAP shows retinal cell grouping, which is divided into 10 subclasses according to gene marker, including rod cells (Rods, C0, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C7), Müller glia cells (ü glia, C6), cone cells (Cones, C8), microglia cells (Microglia, C9), retinal vascular endothelial cells, cone bipolar cells (CBC, C11, C14, C17), rod bipolar cells (RBC, C12), myeloid cells (myeloid, C13), pericytes (Pericytes, C15), amacrine cells (AC, C16); B Violin illustration of retinal cell grouping marker genes. Rods-Rho, Müller glial cells-Glul, cones-Pde6h, microglia-Slcla3, retinal vascular endothelial cells-Pecam1, cone bipolar cells-Scgn, rod bipolar cells-Sebox, myeloid cells-Itgam, pericytes-Kcnj8, amacrine cells-Gad1. C Volcano diagram of the upregulated differentially expressed genes (those associated with inflammation, apoptosis, autophagy, and ubiquitination: Dusp, Cirbp, Actg1, Ttll11, Sgk1, and Mir124-2hg) and downregulated ones (Hsp-family related genes: Hsp90aa1 and Hsp90ab1). Genes with Log2 fold change > 0.25 and P < 0.05 were considered as differentially expressed genes. D Histogram showing the upregulation of signaling pathways in cone subsets in db/db mice compared to db/m mice (pre-Top30). VEGF, HIF-1, and glycolytic pathways were significantly upregulated. E Histogram showing the downregulation of signaling pathways (pre-Top30) in cone cells of WIF 1 mice compared to db/db mice. WIF1 can downregulate the glycolysis, HIF-1, and oxidative phosphorylation pathways, which are upregulated in db/db