Protein markers and differentiation in culture for Schlemm's canal endothelial cells.

The two cell types that populate the human conventional outflow pathway, Schlemm's canal (SC) and trabecular meshwork (TM) regulate intraocular pressure. In culture, SC and TM cells have been useful tools toward understanding their respective roles in conventional outflow homeostasis. Unfortunately, currently available protein markers that distinguish SC from TM cells are limited, motivating the present study. Antibodies that specifically recognize different vascular endothelial markers were used to probe lysates from mature cell monolayers subjected to SDS-PAGE followed by western blot analyses. Results show that SC and TM cells both expressed many of the endothelial candidate proteins investigated, such as Robo1/4, Tie2/TEK, VEGF-R1/R2, VCAM-1, eNOS and neuropilin-1. In contrast, all SC cell strains tested (n=11) expressed two proteins, fibulin-2 and vascular endothelial (VE) cadherin, not expressed by TM cells. To examine changes in VE-cadherin expression and cell-cell junction formation, indicated by transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER), SC cells were seeded onto filters at confluence and growth factors were withdrawn. Culturing cells in media containing adult bovine serum rather than fetal bovine serum resulted in a 75% mean increase in TEER and 67% corresponding average increase in VE-cadherin expression (p<0.05). While both TM and SC cells form monolayers, are contact inhibited, share some endothelial responsibilities and several endothelial protein markers, SC cells uniquely express at least two proteins which likely reflect a distinction in cellular responsibilities in vivo. One of these responsibilities, maintenance of the blood-aqueous barrier, can be modeled in culture upon withdrawal of growth factors from SC cell monolayers.

Mechanical responsiveness of the endothelial cell of Schlemm's canal: scope, variability and its potential role in controlling aqueous humour outflow.

Primary open-angle glaucoma is associated with elevated intraocular pressure, which in turn is believed to result from impaired outflow of aqueous humour. Aqueous humour outflow passes mainly through the trabecular meshwork (TM) and then through pores formed in the endothelium of Schlemm's canal (SC), which experiences a basal-to-apical pressure gradient. This gradient dramatically deforms the SC endothelial cell and potentially contributes to the formation of those pores. However, mechanical properties of the SC cell are poorly defined. Using optical magnetic twisting cytometry and traction force microscopy, here we characterize the mechanical properties of primary cultures of the human SC cell, and for the first time, the scope of their changes in response to pharmacological agents that are known to modulate outflow resistance. Lysophosphatidic acid, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and thrombin caused an increase in cell stiffness by up to 200 per cent, whereas in most cell strains, exposure to latrunculin A, isoproterenol, dibutryl cyclic-AMP or Y-27632 caused a decrease in cell stiffness by up to 80 per cent, highlighting that SC cells possess a remarkably wide contractile scope. Drug responses were variable across donors. S1P, for example, caused 200 per cent stiffening in one donor strain but only 20 per cent stiffening in another. Isoproterenol caused dose-dependent softening in three donor strains but little or no response in two others, a finding mirrored by changes in traction forces and consistent with the level of expression of ß(2)-adrenergic receptors. Despite donor variability, those drugs that typically increase outflow resistance systematically caused cell stiffness to increase, while in most cases, those drugs that typically decrease outflow resistance caused cell stiffness to decrease. These findings establish the endothelial cell of SC as a reactive but variable mechanical component of the aqueous humour outflow pathway. Although the mechanism and locus of increased outflow resistance remain unclear, these data suggest the SC endothelial cell to be a modulator of outflow resistance.

Myocilin-associated exosomes in human ocular samples.

Mutations in myocilin result in ocular hypertension, likely due to decreased drainage of aqueous humor through the trabecular meshwork. Since less myocilin is found in the aqueous humor of those with disease-causing mutations, understanding myocilin's role in the aqueous humor is of clinical importance. Recently, myocilin was shown to exit cultured trabecular meshwork cells in association with shed vesicles called exosomes. To examine relevance of this finding in a physiological setting, the present study examined three different types of ocular samples for the presence of myocilin-associated exosomes. Using differential centrifugation steps, we found myocilin associated with exosomes isolated from effluent collected from human anterior segments in organ culture and aqueous humor obtained from human cadaveric eyes or from patients undergoing excisional surgery. Similar to results with cultured cells, myocilin associated predominately with exosomes in fresh samples, appeared mostly soluble at later times, and had biochemical properties (density of 1.13-1.19 g/ml in linear sucrose gradient) similar to those characteristics of exosomes. These data indicate that exosomes are present and may facilitate the transport of myocilin into the extracellular space of human ocular cells.

Coiled-coil targeting of myocilin to intracellular membranes.

Mutations in myocilin (MYOC) associate with glaucoma and ocular hypertension. Unfortunately, the specific role of MYOC, a widely expressed protein of unknown function, in ocular hypertension is unknown. Since MYOC localizes both to intracellular membranes and to the cytosol, we tested the hypothesis that MYOC is a cytosolic protein that associates with cellular membranes via its coiled-coil domain. Using green fluorescent protein (GFP) chimeras in expression and metabolic labeling studies, we observed that MYOC's putative signal peptide failed to traffic GFP into the secretory machinery and out of transfected cells. Next, we tested which of MYOC's three folding domains were responsible for targeting. In cell fractionation and immunofluorescence microscopy studies, the coiled-coil, but not the helix-turn-helix or olfactomedin domains, was necessary and sufficient to target GFP chimeras to cell membranes. Interestingly, a vesicular phenotype required sequential addition of the helix-turn-helix and olfactomedin domains to the coiled-coil. Taken together, these data indicate that the coiled-coil domain, not the putative signal sequence, is responsible for the targeting of MYOC to the secretory machinery.