title: Ceruloplasmin upregulation in retina of murine and human glaucomatous eyes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Ceruloplasmin (Cp) expression is increased locally as a response to many neurodegenerative conditions. The purposes of this study were to confirm findings of Cp upregulation in glaucoma, detect the time course of this upregulation in a glaucoma model, and better localize its expression in the retina.
  
  
  METHODS
  mRNA and protein were extracted from the retina and brain of DBA/2 and C57BL/6 mice and were subjected to analysis by RT-PCR and immunoblotting. In addition, eyes from the same mouse strains were subjected to immunohistochemistry using antibodies specific for Cp. Eyes from human subjects with or without glaucoma were also subjected to immunohistochemical analysis for Cp.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cp mRNA and Cp protein were upregulated in the retinas of glaucomatous DBA/2 mice. Upregulation of Cp occurred at approximately the time of extensive retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death and increased with increasing age to 15 months in the retinas but not in the brains of these animals. No age-related Cp upregulation was detected in the reference normal mouse strain (C57BL/6), which can develop significant nonglaucomatous RGC loss toward the end of the same time frame. Cp upregulation was also detected in most eyes from the patients with glaucoma. Cp upregulation was localized to the Müller cells within the retinas and in the area of the inner limiting membrane.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cp is upregulated in the retina of a commonly used glaucoma model (the DBA/2 mouse) and in most human glaucomatous eyes. The timing of this upregulation suggests that it may represent a reactive change of the retina in response to a noxious stimulus or to RGC death. Such Cp upregulation may represent a protective mechanism within the retina.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Box 1183, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Kalliopi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stasi
authors.forename: Dalia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nagel
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Lizhen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Thom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mittag
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Danias
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002570:Ceruloplasmin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D002570:Ceruloplasmin