Protective effect of leukemia inhibitory factor on light induced retinal photoreceptors damage and its mechanisms / 中华实验眼科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the role of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) on retinal photoreceptor cells and the underlying mechanism after light damage.Methods Fifty 5-6 weeks old BALB/c mice were randomly divided into normal control group (10 mice),light damage+LIF group (20 mice) and light damage+PBS group (20 mice).Four days before exposing to light,the right eye of each animal in light damage+LIF group and light damage+PBS group was injected with LIF and PBS,respectively;then the mice in the light damage+LIF group and light damage+PBS group were exposed to 4 000 lx intensity of cool white fluorescent light for 4 hours to establish the experimental model of retinal light damage.The function and morphology of retinal photoreceptor cells were detected by flash electroretinogram (fERG) and histopathological examination.Real-time PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of Jak3,STAT3,and apoptosis-related factor Bcl-2 and Bax.The use of animals is guided by the State Science and Technology Commission's regulations on the management of experimental animals.Results The amplitudes of scotopic ERG a wave of 0.01,1,100,200,400 cd · s/m2 light in the light damage + PBS group were significantly lower than those in the normal control group and light damage + LIF group (all at P ＜ 0.05).The amplitudes of photopic ERG b wave of different color light in the light damage+PBS group were significantly lower than those in the normal control group and light damage+LIF group (all at P＜0.05).The number of photoreceptor nuclei in the light damage+PBS group was significantly lower than that in the normal control group and light damage+ LIF group (both at P＜0.05).Compared with light damage+PBS group,the relative expression of Jak3,STAT3,Bcl-2 mRNA in light damage+LIF group were significantly increased (all at P＜0.05),and the relative expression of Bax mRNA were significantly decreased (P＜0.05).Conclusions LIF can protect retinal photoreceptor cells from light damage,which may result from the activation of Jak3/STAT3 signaling pathway and inhibition of its downstream Bax/Bcl-2 apoptotic pathway.