TY - JOUR T1 - HDAC inhibition protects degenerating cone photoreceptors <em>in vivo</em> JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/049742 SP - 049742 AU - Dragana Trifunović AU - Blanca Arango-Gonzalez AU - Antonella Comitato AU - Melanie Barth AU - Ayse Sahaboglu AU - Eva M. del Amo AU - Manoj Kulkarni AU - Stefanie M. Hauck AU - Marius Ueffing AU - Arto Urtti AU - Yvan Arsenijevic AU - Valeria Marigo AU - François Paquet-Durand Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/04/22/049742.abstract N2 - Retinal diseases caused by cone photoreceptor cell death are devastating as the patients are experiencing loss of accurate and color vision. Understanding the mechanisms of cone cell death and the identification of key players therein could provide new treatment options. We studied the neuroprotective effects of a histone deacetylase inhibitor, Trichostatin A (TSA), in a mouse model of inherited, primary cone degeneration (cpfl1). We show that HDAC inhibition protects cones in vitro, in retinal explant cultures. More importantly, in vivo a single TSA injection increased cone survival for up to 10 days post-injection. In addition, the abnormal, incomplete cone migration pattern in the cpfl1 retina was significantly improved by HDAC inhibition. These findings suggest a crucial role for HDAC activity in primary cone degeneration and highlight a new avenue for future therapy developments for cone dystrophies and diseases associated with impaired cone migration. ER -