April 2011
Volume 52, Issue 14
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   April 2011
The Protective Role of MicroRNA-140 in Retinal Ischemia
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Anita S. Chan
    Pathology, Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, California
    Ocular Immunology and inflammation, Singapore National Eye Center; Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore
  • Sindhu Saraswathy
    Pathology, Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, California
  • MinHee K. Ko
    Pathology, Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, California
  • Narsing A. Rao
    Pathology, Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, California
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships  Anita S. Chan, None; Sindhu Saraswathy, None; MinHee K. Ko, None; Narsing A. Rao, None
  • Footnotes
    Support  EY03040; EY019506; EY017347 and RPB
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science April 2011, Vol.52, 517. doi:
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation

      Anita S. Chan, Sindhu Saraswathy, MinHee K. Ko, Narsing A. Rao; The Protective Role of MicroRNA-140 in Retinal Ischemia. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2011;52(14):517.

      Download citation file:


      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

      ×
  • Supplements
Abstract

Purpose: : MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been recently implicated as posttranscriptional gene regulators that are differentially expressed in critical biological and pathological cellular processes. Previously we demonstrated the protective effect of neuroglobin (Ngb) overexpression in transgenic mice (Ngb+/+) with retinal ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. By using high-throughput miRNA expression analysis, we investigated (a) the differential miRNAs expression in Ngb+/+ compared to wild type (WT) mice with IR retinal injury and (b) the protective effect of select miRNA mimic in IR injury of the retina by intravitreal delivery.

Methods: : Retinal ischemia was induced in WT and Ngb+/+ transgenic mice by using the high intraocular pressure method. Animals were sacrificed at day 7 of reperfusion and the eyes were processed for miRNA pcr array (RT2 ProfilerTM miRNA PCR Array), histopathology and TUNEL assay for apoptosis. Retinal ischemia was also performed on WT mice in which miR-140 mimics (miRIDIAN Mimics, Dharmacon) were intravitreally injected at day 0 and day 3 of reperfusion. These animals were sacrificed at day 7 of reperfusion and the eyes processed for morphometric and immunohistochemical analysis for DNA damage and apoptosis.

Results: : The miRNA PCR array results revealed a robust upregulation of miR-140 in Ngb-IR mice compared to WT-IR mice, in association with neuroprotection in the retina on histopathology and TUNEL assay. Conversely, in WT-IR mice compared to non-ischemic WT control mice, miR-140 was profoundly down-regulated in association with retinal damage and apoptosis. Furthermore, neuroprotection in WT-IR mice with intravitreal miR-140 mimic injections was demonstrated on morphometric analysis revealing preservation of retinal thickness (p=0.02) and morphology, in addition to decreased DNA damage and apoptosis through decreased immunoreactivity for 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (a marker for DNA damage), caspase 3 and TUNEL positive cells.

Conclusions: : The above novel results reveal (a) the protective effects of Ngb in IR retinal injury could be mediated by miR-140 and (b) the intravitreal delivery of this microRNA offers protection in preventing oxidative stress mediated retinal IR injury. However, the molecular mechanism for such beneficial effect is not clear.

Keywords: ischemia • neuroprotection • gene microarray 
×
×

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

Sign in or purchase a subscription to access this content. ×

You must be signed into an individual account to use this feature.

×