Abstract
Purpose :
Intraocular pressure (IOP) is mostly regulated by aqueous humor outflow through the trabecular meshwork (TM) and represents the only modifiable risk factor for glaucoma. Primary cilia are sensory organelles on the plasma membrane that have been shown to mediate mechano-transduction in different organs including kidney and brain. However, their potential role in the TM function, IOP regulation and glaucoma etiology remains mostly unknown.
Methods :
Cilia numbers and lengths were compared among cultured human primary normal (NTM) and glaucomatous TM (GTM) cell strains. Cilia were targeted by chloral hydrate (CH) to study the effects of glaucoma-related insults including dexamethasone (DEX) and TGFb2 on TM.
Results :
Cultured GTM cell strains appear to have long and prominent primary cilia as compared to NTM. CH diminished cilia on these cells in a concentration dependent manner. Loss of cilia results in diminished DEX and TGFb2 response in terms of ECM synthesis.
Conclusions :
The presence of longer cilia on GTM and the loss of glaucoma-like phenotypes with loss of cilia suggest a prominent role for cilia in TM function and potential involvement in glaucoma pathophysiology.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.