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Abstract #25804 Published in IGR 12-2
The expression of nestin in retinal glial cells in rat hypertention eye
Xue L; Ding P; Wu K; Jiang C; Hu Z; Xiao L; Hu SChinese Ophthalmic Research 2010; 28: 236-242
Background Elevated intraocular pressure leads to the loss of retinal ganglion cells and vigorous reaction of retinal glial cells. The expression of nestin in retinal glial cells secondary to hypertention and its significance are unclear. Objective This study aim to investigate the expression of nestin in retinal glial cells ( RGCs) in ocular hypertention rats. Methods The ocular hypertention models were established by cauterizing the limbus-draining veins in the right eyes of 42 SD rats, and a conjunctival incision in the left eyes of the rats served as the sham group. The intraocular pressure ( IOP) was measured with the Tono-Pen XL tonometer. The number of RGCs in the rats with ocular hypertention was counted. The expression of the nestin protein in RGCs was semi-quantitatively analyzed using Western blot, and the induction of the expression of nestin in Muller cells was detected by immunochemistry. Double immunofluorescence was carried out to evaluate the expression of nestin/GS or nestin/GFAP in the foot plate of Muller cells under the confocal laser scaning microscope. Results Significant differences were found in the IOP between the model group and the sham group at various time points ( P < 0. 05 ). In 1 week to 3 weeks after operation, the number of RGCs significantly declined in the model group compared with the sham group ( P < 0. 05). Immunochemistry showed that from 2 hours through 1 week after operation, the expression of nestin was gradually enhanced in the model group in comparison with the sham group. Western blot revealed that the expression of the nestin protein reflected a similar tendency to that of immunofluorescence. The present results determined that Muller glial cells reacted vigorously to increased introcular pressure as manifested by the induced expression of nestin. Immunoelectron microscopy also confirmed the induced expression of nestin in Muller glial cells in ocular hypertention. Conclusion The present result suggests that the induced expression of nestin in Muller glial cells is a response to increased IOP. The induced expression of nestin in Muller glial cells especially at their end-feet suggests a potential neuroprotective mechanism in neuronal degeneration. Nestin may be a useful biomarker for retinal injury study. LA: Chinese
L. Xue. Department of Ophthalmology, Second People's Hospital of Yunnan Province, Kunming 650021, China.
Classification:
2.13 Retina and retinal nerve fibre layer (Part of: 2 Anatomical structures in glaucoma)
3.5 Molecular biology incl. SiRNA (Part of: 3 Laboratory methods)
5.1 Rodent (Part of: 5 Experimental glaucoma; animal models)
