Abstract
Purpose :
Form deprivation myopia (FDM) is associated with dramatic increases in ocular volume, axial length, and thinning of the retina and choroid. Several studies have documented the transcriptomic profile of refractive errors in animals though the proteomic profile of refractive errors in animals is limited. Thus this study aimed to determine the protein profile following recovery from FDM. Given our previous transcriptomic study and our ultrastructural evidence it was hypothesized that energy metabolism would be suppressed during FDM recovery
Methods :
Male hatchling chicks were monocularly occluded from days 4 -11 days after which chicks were given T=0h, T=6h or T=24h of normal vision. Four chicks were used as aged-matched unoccluded controls. Biometrics were measured prior to euthanasia. A total of 5mg of combined retina/RPE/choroid tissue was biopsied from the posterior eye cup and prepared for mass spectroscopy. Differentially abundant proteins were determined along with pathway analysis using FDR of 5%.
Results :
Chicks form-deprived (FD) for 7 days were ~20D myopic. Refractive normalization began with removal of occlusion. After 24h of normal vision, refraction in chicks reduced to -9D. The most abundant proteins after 7 days of FD were related to energy metabolism, signal transduction and cell communication while protein involved in protein metabolism and cell growth were less abundant. Pathway enrichment analysis during the recovery period revealed a suppression in energy metabolism.
Conclusions :
Our data indicates that abnormal axial growth during FD is accompanied by an abundance of metabolic proteins and that refractive normalization following removal of FD and reintroduction of normal visual environment is associated with suppression of energy metabolism. The most significant results are consistent with our previous transcriptome work and highlight the importance of energy metabolism in the myopic eye.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.