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Rosenbaum JT, Harrington CA, Searles RP, Fei SS, Zaki A, Arepalli S, Paley MA, Hassman LM, Vitale AT, Conrady CD, Keath P, Mitchell C, Watson L, Planck SR, Martin TM, Choi D. Identifying RNA Biomarkers and Molecular Pathways Involved in Multiple Subtypes of Uveitis. Am J Ophthalmol 2021; 226:226-234. [PMID: 33503442 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajo.2021.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2020] [Revised: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Uveitis is a heterogeneous collection of diseases. We tested the hypothesis that despite the diversity of uveitides, there could be common mechanisms shared by multiple subtypes, and that evidence of these common mechanisms may be detected as gene expression profiles in whole blood. DESIGN Cohort study. METHODS Ninety subjects with uveitis including axial spondyloarthritis (n = 17), sarcoidosis (n = 13), inflammatory bowel disease (n = 12), tubulointerstitial nephritis with uveitis (n = 10), or idiopathic uveitis (n = 38) as well as 18 healthy controls were enrolled, predominantly at Oregon Health & Science University. RNA-Seq data generated from peripheral, whole blood identified 19,859 unique transcripts. We analyzed gene expression pathways via Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology (GO). We validated our list of upregulated genes by comparison to a previously published study on peripheral blood gene expression among 50 subjects with diverse forms of uveitis. RESULTS Both the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and GO analysis identified multiple shared pathways or GO terms with a P value of <.0001. Almost all pathways related to the immune response and/or response to an infection. A total of 119 individual transcripts were upregulated by at least 1.5-fold and false discovery rate <.05, and 61 were downregulated by similar criteria. Comparing mRNA from our study with a false discovery rate <.05 and the prior report, we identified 10 common gene transcripts: ICAM1, IL15RA, IL15, IRF1, IL10RB, GSK3A, TYK2, MEF2A, MEF2B, and MEF2D. CONCLUSIONS Many forms of uveitis share overlapping mechanisms. These data support the concept that a single therapeutic approach could benefit diverse forms of this disease.
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Xia X, Yu CY, Bian M, Sun CB, Tanasa B, Chang KC, Bruffett DM, Thakur H, Shah SH, Knasel C, Cameron EG, Kapiloff MS, Goldberg JL. MEF2 transcription factors differentially contribute to retinal ganglion cell loss after optic nerve injury. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0242884. [PMID: 33315889 PMCID: PMC7735573 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in optic neuropathies results in permanent partial or complete blindness. Myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) transcription factors have been shown to play a pivotal role in neuronal systems, and in particular MEF2A knockout was shown to enhance RGC survival after optic nerve crush injury. Here we expanded these prior data to study bi-allelic, tri-allelic and heterozygous allele deletion. We observed that deletion of all MEF2A, MEF2C, and MEF2D alleles had no effect on RGC survival during development. Our extended experiments suggest that the majority of the neuroprotective effect was conferred by complete deletion of MEF2A but that MEF2D knockout, although not sufficient to increase RGC survival on its own, increased the positive effect of MEF2A knockout. Conversely, MEF2A over-expression in wildtype mice worsened RGC survival after optic nerve crush. Interestingly, MEF2 transcription factors are regulated by post-translational modification, including by calcineurin-catalyzed dephosphorylation of MEF2A Ser-408 known to increase MEF2A-dependent transactivation in neurons. However, neither phospho-mimetic nor phospho-ablative mutation of MEF2A Ser-408 affected the ability of MEF2A to promote RGC death in vivo after optic nerve injury. Together these findings demonstrate that MEF2 gene expression opposes RGC survival following axon injury in a complex hierarchy, and further support the hypothesis that loss of or interference with MEF2A expression might be beneficial for RGC neuroprotection in diseases such as glaucoma and other optic neuropathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Xia
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Caroline Y. Yu
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Minjuan Bian
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Catalina B. Sun
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Bogdan Tanasa
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Kun-Che Chang
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Dawn M. Bruffett
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Hrishikesh Thakur
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Sahil H. Shah
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Cara Knasel
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Evan G. Cameron
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
| | - Michael S. Kapiloff
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
- Department of Medicine and Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MSK); (JLG)
| | - Jeffrey L. Goldberg
- Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MSK); (JLG)
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Xu L, Yu H, Sun H, Yu X, Tao Y. Optimized nonionic emulsifier for the efficient delivery of astaxanthin nanodispersions to retina: in vivo and ex vivo evaluations. Drug Deliv 2020; 26:1222-1234. [PMID: 31747793 PMCID: PMC6882443 DOI: 10.1080/10717544.2019.1682718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Astaxanthin (AST) is a naturally occurring carotenoid with potent anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory potency against chronic diseases. In this study, we suspended AST in different nonionic emulsifiers to produce nanodispersions. The basic physicochemical properties of the produced AST nanodispersions were verified to select the optimized nonionic emulsifier. Among the tested emulsifiers, Polysorbate 20 produced the AST nanoemulsions with smaller particle diameters, narrower size distributions, and higher AST contents among these emulsifiers. The N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) administered mouse is a chemically induced retinal degeneration (RD) model with rapid progress rate. AST suspended in Polysorbate 20 was demonstrated to ameliorate the dramatic consequences of MNU on retina architectures and function in several different tests encompassing from electrophysiology to histology and molecular tests. Furthermore, the multi-electrodes array (MEA) was used to detect the firing activities of retinal ganglion cells within the inner retinal circuits. We found that AST nanodispersions could restrain the spontaneous firing response, enhance the light induced firing response, and preserve the basic configurations of visual signal pathway in degenerative retinas. The MEA assay provided an appropriate example to evaluate the potency of pharmacological compounds on retinal plasticity. In summary, emulsifier type affects the basic physicochemical characteristic of AST nanodispersions. Polysorbate 20 acts as an optimized nonionic emulsifier for the efficient delivery of AST nanodispersions to retina. AST nanodispersions can alleviate the photoreceptor loss and rectify the abnormities in visual signal transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Xu
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Haixiang Yu
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Hongbin Sun
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Xiang Yu
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jinling Hospital, Clinical Hospital of Medical College, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ye Tao
- Department of Physiology, Basic Medical College, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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Li C, Tian Y, Yao A, Zha X, Zhang J, Tao Y. Intravitreal Delivery of Melatonin Is Protective Against the Photoreceptor Loss in Mice: A Potential Therapeutic Strategy for Degenerative Retinopathy. Front Pharmacol 2020; 10:1633. [PMID: 32116667 PMCID: PMC7028754 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2019.01633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Melatonin is a circadian hormone with potent cytoprotective effects. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) comprises a heterogeneous group of inherent retinopathies that characterized by the photoreceptor death in bilateral eyes. The N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) administered mouse is a type of chemically induced RP model with rapid progressive rate. We intend to study the melatonin mediated effects on the MNU administered mice. Melatonin was delivered into the vitreous body of the MNU administered mice. Subsequently, the melatonin treated mice were subjected to histological analysis, optokinetic behavior tests, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), and electroretinogram (ERG) examination. Multi-electrodes array (MEA) was used to analyze the status of visual signal transmission within retinal circuits. Biochemical analysis was performed to quantify the expression levels of antioxidative enzymes, oxidative stress markers, and apoptotic factors in the retinas. The intravitreal injection of melatonin ameliorated effectively the MNU induced photoreceptor degeneration. Melatonin therapy mitigated the spontaneous firing response, and preserved the basic configurations of visual signal pathway in MNU administered mice. MEA is effective to evaluate the pharmacological effects on retina. Of note, the cone photoreceptors in degenerative retinas were rescued efficiently by melatonin therapy. Melatonin afforded these protective effects by modulating the apoptotic cascades and alleviating the oxidative stress. These findings suggest that melatonin could act as an alternative treatment for degenerative retinopathy. Melatonin might be used in combination with other therapeutic approaches to alleviate the photoreceptor loss and preserve the visual function of RP patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chong Li
- Department of Neurosurgery, PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Yi Tian
- Department of Oncology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Anhui Yao
- Department of Neurosurgery, PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaobing Zha
- Department of Rehabilitation, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jianbin Zhang
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Ministry of Education Key Lab of Hazard Assessment and Control in Special Operational Environment, School of Public Health, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Ye Tao
- Department of Ophthalmology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou University, People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China
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Ouyang H, Yu J, Chen X, Wang Z, Nie Q. A novel transcript of MEF2D promotes myoblast differentiation and its variations associated with growth traits in chicken. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8351. [PMID: 32117604 PMCID: PMC7006513 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Development of skeletal muscle is closely related to broiler production traits. The myocyte-specific enhancer binding factor (MEF) 2D gene (MEF2D) and its variant transcripts play important parts in myogenesis. Methods To identify the transcript variants of chicken MEF2D gene and their function, this study cloned chicken MEF2D gene and identified its transcript variants from different tissue samples. The expression levels of different transcripts of MEF2D gene in different tissues and different periods were measured, and their effects on myoblast proliferation and differentiation were investigated. Variations in MEF2D were identified and association analysis with chicken production traits carried out. Results Four novel transcript variants of MEF2D were obtained, all of which contained highly conserved sequences, including MADS-Box and MEF2-Domain functional regions. Transcript MEF2D-V4 was expressed specifically in muscle, and its expression was increased during embryonic muscle development. The MEF2D-V4 could promote differentiation of chicken myoblasts and its expression was regulated by RBFOX2. The single nucleotide polymorphism g.36186C > T generated a TAG stop codon, caused MEF2D-V4 to terminate translation early, and was associated with several growth traits, especially on early body weight. Conclusion We cloned the muscle-specific transcript of MEF2D and preliminarily revealed its role in embryonic muscle development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongjia Ouyang
- College of Animal Science & Technology, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Waterfowl Healthy Breeding, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiao Yu
- Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaolan Chen
- Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhijun Wang
- Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Qinghua Nie
- Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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Retinal organotypic culture – A candidate for research on retinas. Tissue Cell 2018; 51:1-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tice.2018.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2017] [Revised: 01/26/2018] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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