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Editors Selection IGR 9-2
Basic science: Oxidative damage
Comment by Franz Grus on:
13197 Proteomic identification of oxidatively modified retinal proteins in a chronic pressure-induced rat model of glaucoma, Tezel G; Yang X; Cai J, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 2005; 46: 3177-3187
Apoptotic processes are thought to play a major role in the death of retinal ganglion cells (RGC) in glaucoma patients. Proteomic analyses might highlight the pathways of this RGC death. This is important, considering the weak correlation between gene and protein expressions, which can become even more complicated by posttranslational modifications. Tezel et al. (843) hypothesize that the ultimate function of the gene that resides in the protein can be modulated by posttranslational modifications. Thus, the analysis of changes in the proteome (proteins expressed by the genome) can provide novel and relevant pathophysiological information. The manuscript of Tezel et al. focuses on oxidative modifications and uses conventional two-dimensional gel-electrophoresis and Western-blot techniques (oxyblot) to detect the posttranslational oxidative modifications. This might be furthermore interesting, because it is known that oxidation is one of the major causes of brain protein damage and dysfunction in other neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's disease. In this study, the authors could demonstrate increased oxidative modifications in many retinal proteins such as HSP72 in ocular hypertensive rats, which provide hints for the association of oxidative damage with neurodegeneration. However, considering the large variation in protein expressions which can be found usually in proteomics analyses even in samples derived from the same group, the number of animals and blots might be an issue in this study. Furthermore, the question remains if the results in an animal model using elevated intraocular pressure might be comparable to the glaucoma disease in humans. Nevertheless, this very interesting study could demonstrate that proteomics analysis might be a very beneficial approach in glaucoma.
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