Gharbi N, Røise D, Førre JE, Edson AJ, Hushagen HA, Tronci V, Frøyset AK, Fladmark KE. Reintroduction of DJ-1 in Müller Cells Inhibits Retinal Degeneration in the DJ-1 Deficient Retina.
Antioxidants (Basel) 2021;
10:1862. [PMID:
34942966 PMCID:
PMC8698414 DOI:
10.3390/antiox10121862]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The eye is continuously under oxidative stress due to high metabolic activity and reactive oxygen species generated by daily light exposure. The redox-sensitive protein DJ-1 has proven to be essential in order to protect retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) from oxidative-stress-induced degeneration. Here, we analyzed the specific role of Müller cell DJ-1 in the adult zebrafish retina by re-establishing Müller-cell-specific DJ-1 expression in a DJ-1 knockout retina. Loss of DJ-1 resulted in an age-dependent retinal degeneration, including loss of cells in the ganglion cell layer, retinal thinning, photoreceptor disorganization and RPE cell dysfunction. The degenerative phenotype induced by the absence of DJ-1 was inhibited by solely expressing DJ-1 in Müller cells. The protective effect was dependent upon the cysteine-106 residue of DJ-1, which has been shown to be an oxidative sensor of DJ-1. In a label-free proteomics analysis of isolated retinas, we identified proteins differentially expressed after DJ-1 knockout, but with restored levels after Müller cell DJ-1 re-insertion. Our data show that Müller cell DJ-1 has a major role in protecting the retina from age-dependent oxidative stress.
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