Specific expression of transmembrane protein 26 in retina and its association with primary open-angle glaucoma / 中华实验眼科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To predict the transmembrane structure of transmembrane protein 26 (TMEM26), observe its expression in human retina and mouse retina, and investigate the relationship between it and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).Methods:The transmembrane structure of TMEM26 in human and mouse was obtained by inputting its amino acid sequences into the transmembrane protein structure prediction software, MemBrain.The expression and location of TMEM26 in human and mouse retinas were observed through frozen retinal sections stained with anti-TMEM26 antibody, which came from a human donor and five SPF-grade C57BL/6 mice.The possible function of TMEM26 gene and its influence on eyes were inferred on the basis of the specific expression of TMEM26 in retina.The single nucleotide polymorphism mutation of TMEM26 gene was searched in literature related to ocular diseases.The use and care of animals complied with the Regulations on the Management of Experimental Animals.This research protocol was approved by an Ethics Committee of Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital (No.2019-36). Results:Both human and mouse TMEM26 were eight transmembrane proteins with similar eight hydrophobic transmembrane domains, four hydrophilic cytoplasmic domains and five hydrophilic extracellular membrane domains.Small differences in the number of amino acid residues in the domains of TMEM26 were found.In both human and mouse retina, TMEM26 gene was only specifically expressed in the outer plexiform layer (OPL)and inner plexiform layer (IPL). TMEM26 was weakly associated with POAG in a published data. Conclusions:TMEM26 is a multi-pass transmembrane protein, mainly expressed in IPL and OPL of the retina. TMEM26 gene is weakly related to POAG.