Microarray Gene Expression Analysis of Rabbit Retina Following Triamcinolone Injection

Abstract

Abstract: : Purpose: Intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) has recently been used for macular edema or exudative AMD. However, the mechanism of this treatment is incompletely understood. To investigate the mechanism, we determined the alterations in the gene expression profile of the rabbit retina after TA injection. Methods: A total of 12 mg TA was injected into the vitreous cavity after vitrectomy was performed on 2 eyes of albino rabbits. In 2 control rabbits, vitrectomy was performed without addition of TA. 48 hours after vitrectomy, total RNA was purified from retinas of the treated and control eyes. cDNA was then labeled using a TSA^TM kit (PerkinElmer) and hybridized for 16 hours to IntelliGene^TM Mouse Chip (Takara) representing a subset of the mouse gene (564 known genes and 301 ESTs). Each experiment was conducted in duplicate. The arrays were scanned with a Laser conforcal scanner (Vertek) and fluorescence intensities were analyzed using MicroArray Suite 2.7.1. Results: Among the known 564 genes and 301 ESTs, 50 genes and 36 ESTs signals were detected in all 4 samples. Four genes and 2 ESTs were upregulated by over 2-fold, and 3 genes and 3 ESTs were downregulated by over a half. Thirty-six genes and 12 ESTs detected in the control samples were not detected in the TA-injected samples, including the insulin-like growth factor binding protein and TNF receptor. Conclusions: Triamcinolone acetonide injection may suppress many genes including cytokine and cytokine-related genes. Cross-species microarray analysis could be useful in profiling changes in gene expression of the rabbit retina.

Keywords: gene microarray • drug toxicity/drug effects