Abstract
Purpose:
To determine whether Snail gene directly mediate the regulation of retinal pigment epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).
Methods:
We transfected ARPE-19 cells with the plasmids containing Snail-encoding cDNA. Quantitative real time RT-PCR and Western blot were used to examine the expression of EMT markers at mRNA and protein level respectively. ARPE-19 cells migratory ability was performed using Transwell chamber.
Results:
Enforced expression of Snail gene resulted in EMT in human RPE cells (ARPE-19), which was characterized by the expected decrease in E-cadherin and Zona occludin-1(ZO-1) expression, and the increase in fibronectin and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression. At the same time, ARPE-19 cells morphology significantly changed from a typical epithelial morphology to mesenchymal spindle-shaped. Furthermore, the expression of the Snail gene was sufficient to increase ARPE-19 cell migration.
Conclusions:
The present data suggest that Snail could induce retinal pigment epithelial-mesenchymal transition directly. The specific inhibition of Snail may provide a new approach to treat and prevent PVR.
Keywords: 533 gene/expression •
512 EMT (epithelial mesenchymal transition) •
701 retinal pigment epithelium