title: Müller glia as an important source of cytokines and inflammatory factors present in the gliotic retina during proliferative vitreoretinopathy.
abstract: Retinal gliosis is characterized by biochemical and physiological changes that often lead to Müller glia proliferation and hypertrophy and is a feature of many neuro-degenerative and inflammatory diseases such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). Although Müller glia are known to release inflammatory factors and cytokines, it is not clear whether cytokine production by these cells mirrors the pattern of factors present in the gliotic retina. Lysates from normal cadaveric retina and gliotic retinal specimens from patients undergoing retinectomy for treatment of PVR, the Müller cell line MIO-M1 and four human Müller glial cell preparations isolated from normal retina were examined for their expression of cytokines and inflammatory factors using semi-quantitative dot blot antibody arrays and quantitative arrays. Comparative analysis of the expression of inflammatory factors showed that in comparison with normal retina, gliotic retina exhibited greater than twofold increase in 24/102 factors examined by semiquantitative arrays, and a significant increase in 19 out of 27 factors assessed by quantitative methods (P < 0.05 to P < 0.001). It was observed that with the exception of some chemotactic factors, the majority of cytokines and inflammatory factors were produced by Müller glia in vitro and included G-CSF, MCP-1, PDGF-bb, RANTES, VEGF, and TGFβ2. These results showed that a large number of inflammatory factors expressed by Müller glia in vitro are upregulated in the gliotic retina, suggesting that targeting the production of inflammatory factors by Müller glia may constitute a valid approach to prevent neural damage during retinal gliosis and this merits further investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ocular Biology and Therapeutics, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eastlake
authors.affiliation: Department of Ocular Biology and Therapeutics, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Department of Ocular Biology and Therapeutics, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angbohang
authors.affiliation: NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Charteris
authors.affiliation: NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Khaw
authors.affiliation: NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Limb
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002460:Cell Line; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D063928:Ependymoglial Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008875:Middle Aged; D012160:Retina / Q000276:immunology* / Q000601:surgery; D018630:Vitreoretinopathy, Proliferative / Q000276:immunology* / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines
keywords: Müller glia; PVR; cytokines; retina degeneration; retinal gliosis