Abstract
Purpose: :
EGR-1 is a member of the immediate early response transcription factor family and functions in cell growth, development, and stress responses in many tissues. Recent studies have found that EGR-1(ZENK) was down-regulated during form-deprivation myopia in chickens and EGR-1 knockout mice show relative myopia. This study investigated the expression of EGR-1 in the retina of C57BL/6 mice, guinea pigs and humans.
Methods: :
EGR-1 expression was detected in frozen retinal sections from mouse guinea pig and human samples using immunofluorescence. The cell types expressing EGR-1 were confirmed with BRN3a antibody for ganglion cell, TH antibody for dopaminergic amacrine cell and PKC-α antibody for bipolar cell under double immunofluorescence labeling.
Results: :
EGR-1 was detected in ganglion cell and the inner nuclear layers (INL) especially in dopaminergic amacrine cells and bipolar cells in mouse and guinea pig retina. However, in human retina, the expression of EGR-1 was only observed in the INL.
Conclusions: :
EGR-1 expression in the INL is similar among mice, guinea pigs and humans. It is demonstrated that the expression of EGR-1 is influenced by light stimulation, so EGR-1 not observed in human ganglion cells in the present study may be due to factors such as a long exposure to light from dark, which resulting in very low expression can not be detected . These results suggest that EGR-1 may play a similar role in ocular growth and refractive development among different species.
Keywords: retina • myopia • transcription factors