ABSTRACT
Objective To research the role of mitochondrial DNA mediate the cultured human retinal pigment epithelium (hRPE) cell apoptosis induced by blue light and the relationship with time.Methods Established the blue light damage model of cultured hRPE cells in vitro with light emitting diode (LED) blue light density of (4.0-±0.5)mW/cm2 adjusted by FL-1D blue light illumination meter,and the illumination time was set as 0,0.5,1,2,4,6,12 and 24 hours,then the cells were grouped according to the illumination time.Immunofluorescence were used to identify the cells;the expressions of caspase-3,cleaved caspase-3,caspase-9,cleaved caspase-9,bax and bcl-2 were detected with Western blot.Quantitative PCR was used to detect the copy number of mitochondrial DNA and PCR was used to detect mitochondrial DNA 4977bp common deletion.Results Immunofluorescence results showed that the RPE65 protein was expressed in the cytoplasm.The expressions of bax were upregulated after illumination for 1 hour,cleaved caspase-3 were upregulated after illumination for 2 hours,caspase-3,caspase-9,cleaved caspase-9 were upregulated after illumination for 4 hours,while the expression of bcl-2 was downregulated after illuminated for 2 hours,with significant differences compared to the normal control group (all at P＜0.05).The copy number of mitochondrial DNA in 0.5,1,2,4,6,12 and 24 hours groups was downregulated,with significant differences compared to the normal control group (all at P＜0.05).The expressions of 4977bp common deletion in 0.5,1,2,4,6,12 and 24 hours groups were increased,with significant differences compared with the normal control group (all at P＜0.05).Conclusions Blue light can cause cell apoptosis,especially mitochondrial apoptosis,in hRPE probably motivated by mitochondrial DNA damage.
ABSTRACT
Background Researches showed that mitochondria and oxidative stress play a crucial role in retinal photochemical injury,but the relationship between the damage of human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell-induced by blue light and light-irradiated time is less studied.Objective The aim of this study was to research the possible mechanism of RPE oxidative damage induced by blue light in vitro.Methods Human RPE cells were isolated from healthy donors and cultured.The cells were divided into the normal control group and the light exposure group.The cells of light exposure group were irradiated using the blue light of (4.0±0.5) mW/cm2 for 0.5,1,2,3,4,5,6,12 and 24 hours,respectively,and the cells of the normal control group were cultured in dark environment.Cellular viability was detected by MTT method,and the ultrastructure change of subcellular organelles in RPE cells was examined under the transmission electron microscope (TEM).The content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assayed by flow cytometry for the assessment of oxidative stress reaction.The relative expressions of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) mRNA and cyclooxygenase 1 (COX1) mRNA in the cells were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR to evaluate the mitochondria function.Results The percentages of cellular viability were (100.00±20.00) ％,(95.73±0.89) ％,(94.67±2.56) ％,(84.23±0.16) ％,(78.57±3.09)％,(75.43±2.18)％,(66.13±1.42)％,(53.43±1.91)％ and (47.97±1.36)％ in the normal control group and light exposure for 1-hour,2-hour,3-hour,4-hour,5-hour,6-hour,12-hour and 24-hour groups,respectively,showing a significant difference among the groups (F =172.270,P =0.000),and the percentages of light exposure for the more than 3 hours groups were significantly lower than those of the normal control group (all at P＜ 0.05).The vacuoles-like degeneration,mitochondrial swelling,decreased microvilli were seen under the TEM.The contents of ROS in RPE cells were (14.75±2.49)％,(19.04± 1.02) ％,(22.81 ±3.20)％,(28.75±2.15)％,(33.06±0.96) ％,(40.64±2.11) ％,(48.25±2.50) ％ and (60.44±2.68) ％ in the normal control group and light exposure for 0.5-hour,1-hour,2-hour,3-hour,4-hour,5-hour,6-hour groups,and with significant increases in ROS contents in various light exposure groups compared with the normal control group (all at P＜0.05).The relative expression levels of NAPDH mRNA in the cells were gradually elevated 3 hours after light exposure with the increase of time in comparison with the normal control group (all at P＜0.05),and the relative expression levels of COX1 mRNA in the cells were higher in the light exposure for 2-hour,3-hour,4-hour and 5-hour group compared with the normal control group (all at P＜0.05),and after that the COX1 mRNA levels were gradually declined and were close to the normal level.Conclusions Blue light irradiation for more than 3 hours causes oxidative stress damage of mitochondria in RPE in vitro,and the damage was more obvious after irradiation for 5-6 hours.
ABSTRACT
Background Choroidal neovascularization(CNV)has been descrihed as a main reason of visual loss in a lot of ocular diseases.Researches showed that local hypoxia and retinal pigment epithelial(RPE) cells play an important role in the formation of CNV.A closely relationship of angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and angiogenesis has been proved.However,whether the expression of Aog-2 in hypoxic cultured human RPE cells is associated with the pathogenesis of CNV is still below understood.Objective This study was to investigate the effects of hypoxia on expression of Ang-2 in cultured human RPE cells in vitro,and discuss the possible effects of Ang-2 in the formation of CNV.Methods Human RPE cells were cultured and passaged,and 4-7 generation of cells were used in the experiment.The cells were incubated in cultural plate at the density of 5×107 cells/L.The culture medium containing 200 μmol/L CoCl2 was used to establish the hypoxia model of human RPE cells culturecd in vitro for 0.5,1,2,4,6,12and 24 hours,and the RPE cells cultured under normoxia were as controls.Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of Ang-2 mRNA in cultured human RPE cells,and enzymelinked immunosorbnent assay(ELISA) was used to assay the content of Ang-2 protein in supernatant of cultured human RPE cells.Results The survival rate of human RPE cells was 90％ after resoscitation.The fourth generation of cells showed the fusiform with the less pigment in them.The Ang-2 mRNA/β-actin mRNA value in human RPE cells was significantly different among various groups(F=1086.30,P=0.00),The Ang-2 mRN A/β-actin mRNA value in hypoxia cultured for 0.5 hours group began to increase and peaked in hypoxia culture for 4-6 hours group,with the significant differences in comparison with normoxia control group(P＜0.05).The Ang-2 mRNA/β-actin mRNA value decreased to the baseline level at hypoxia for 24 hours.The ELISA analysis showed that the concentration of Ang-2 protein in supernatant of RPE cells showed significant difference among groups(F=1034.00,P=0.00).The concentration of Ang-2 protein increased at hypoxia culture for 0.5 hours and peaked at 6 hours,showing significant differences in comparison with the control group (P＜0.05).Conclusions Hypoxia could significantly up-regulate the expression of Ang-2 in human RPE cells cultured in vitro.Ang-2 expresses highly in the early stage of hypoxia,implying that Ang-2 participates in the formation of CNV.
ABSTRACT
The proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) gene expression was blocked and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) proliferation was inhibited by using antisense oligonucleotides (AS-ODN)mediated by liposome, to find a new genetic therapy of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). RPE cells cultured in vitro were transfected with synthetic fluorescence labled AS-ODN mediated by liposome-Lipofectamine, and the intracellular distribution and persistence time of AS-ODN were dynamically observed. AS-ODN (0.07, 0.28 and 1.12 μ mol/L and sense oligonucleotides (S-ODN with the same concentrations as AS-ODN) mediated by liposome were delivered to the RPE cells cultured in vitro, and CPM values were measured by 3H-TdR incorporation assay and analyzed statistically by variance by comparison with blank control group.Expression of PCNA mRNA in RPE cells was detected by in situ hybridization after the treatment of different concentrations of PCNA AS-ODN and S-ODN, and the average optic density (AOD) was measured by image analysis system and was subjected to q-test and correlation analysis with CPM.Our results showed that AS-ODN mediated by liposome could quickly aggregate in cellular plasma and nuclei in 30 min and 6 h, and stayed for as long as 6 days. AS-ODN (0.28 and 1.12 μ mol/L) markedly suppressed proliferation of RPE cells in a dose-dependent manner with the difference being statistically significant (P＜0.05 and P＜0.01,repectively) as compared with blank control group. AOD was well correlated with CPM (r=0.975). It is concluded that liposome could increase transfection efficiency of AS-ODN in RPE cells, and AS-ODN could sequence-specifically suppress PCNA mRNA expression and proliferation of human RPE cells.