Abstract
Purpose::
This study was designed to simultaneously determine several cytokine/chemokine levels from ARPE-19 cells, an immortalized human retinal pigment epithelial cell line, under normal and hypoxic conditions by a multiplex system.
Methods::
Human retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19) were cultured under normal and hypoxic (1% oxygen) conditions for 24 hours. Cytokine/chemokine levels in the culture medium were analyzed using a multiplex system (Luminex).
Results::
Substantial levels of VEGF, IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 were simultaneously detected in the culture medium of ARPE-19 under normal culture conditions. Hypoxia upregulated VEGF but downregulated the other three.
Conclusions::
While the upregulation of VEGF under hypoxia and its pathophysiological roles are well studied, the pathological significance of the downregulation of IL-6, IL-8 and MCP-1 from ARPE-19 remains to be examined. This study also suggests that a multiplex system provides a convenient means to determine the relative levels of several biomolecules simultaneously with small amounts of samples.
Keywords: retinal pigment epithelium • cytokines/chemokines • hypoxia