Abstract
Purpose :
To study how miR21 regulates intraocular pressure and aqueous humor outflow facility and the mechanism involved.
Methods :
Mouse eyes (C57BL/6) were transfected with 2 uL of miR21 mimics by anterior chamber injection (mirVana, ThermalFisher, USA) with Invivofectamine 3.0. The contralateral eyes were transfected in the same way with 2 uL of miRNA mimics negative control (mirVana, ThermalFisher, USA). IOP was monitored over time up to 72 hours after miR21 mimics application. Subsequently, we repeated the experiment in a different cohort of six mice, and the outflow facility was measured 24h post-transfection. PTEN/Akt/eNOS expression of the trabecular meshwork tissue was measured by western blot.
Results :
miR21 mimics significantly reduced IOP at 6, 8, 24 and 48 hours post transfection (n=6, p<0.05) with the greatest reduction at 8 h (4 mmHg, p<0.05). Conventional outflow facility significantly increased by 1.74 fold 24h after transfection (from 0.0092 uL/min/mmHg to 0.0160 uL/min/mmHg, n=6). miR21 mimics transfection significantly reduced PTEN but upregulated Akt and eNOS expression (p<0.05, n=6).
Conclusions :
miR21 might be a novel target for modulating intraocular pressure by indirectly activating Akt/eNOS through inhibition of PTEN.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.