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Editors Selection IGR 7-3

Basic research: Basic gene expression regulation

Comment by Franz Grus on:

20733 Disease proteomics reveals altered basic gene expression regulation in leukocytes of Normal-Tension and Primary Open-Angle glaucoma patients, Golubnitschaja O; Yeghiazaryan K; Wunderlich K et al., Proteomics - Clinical Applications, 2007; 1: 1316-1323

Find related abstracts

Glaucoma is a group of neurodegenerative disorders. All of them have in common that retinal ganglion cells die. However, the trigger for apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells is still widely unknown. Recent studies reveal the involvement of immunological mecha-nisms and changes in natural autoim-munity in glaucoma patients. Most of these studies are based on changes in the reactivities of autoantibodies against ocular antigens and there is only a limited information available about the involvement of the cellular branch of the immune system in glaucoma. Golubnitschaja et al. (117) attempted to find alterations in the basic gene expression regulation in leukocytes of normal-tension and primary open angle glaucoma patients. It is an interesting study, but the title is a little bit misleading, because only proteomics experiments were performed and no gene expression measured. The group used conventional, well established protoemics methods (two dimensional gel electrophoresis) and could find some 2D spots of proteins, which were altered in the glaucoma groups compared to controls. Some of them were identified by mass spectrometry (Maldi-TOF). The authors focused mainly on alterations in the expression of basic transcription factor activation protein-2-beta (AP-2β) which is an essential factor in transcription regulation, although other proteins reveal higher levels of up-regulations than AP-2β. Furthermore, I am wondering why the experiments in this paper reveal only up- but no downregulations of protein-expressions in the leucocytes of glaucoma patients. The results of the paper are very important because they provide first hints of alterations in the protein expressions of leucocytes in glaucoma patients.

However, the clinical relevance of the results would be higher, if more patients (12 glaucoma patients including both NTG and POAG) were included. Larger validation trials are needed to confirm these interesting results.

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