title: Nerve growth factor protects against palmitic acid-induced injury in retinal ganglion cells.
abstract: Accumulating evidence supports an important role for nerve growth factor (NGF) in diabetic retinopathy. We hypothesized that NGF has a protective effect on rat retinal ganglion RGC-5 cells injured by palmitic acid (PA), a metabolic factor implicated in the development of diabetes and its complications. Our results show that PA exposure caused apoptosis of RGC-5 cells, while NGF protected against PA insult in a concentration-dependent manner. Additionally, NGF significantly attenuated the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in RGC-5 cells. Pathway inhibitor tests showed that the protective effect of NGF was completely reversed by LY294002 (PI3K inhibitor), Akt VIII inhibitor, and PD98059 (ERK1/2 inhibitor). Western blot analysis revealed that NGF induced the phosphorylation of Akt/FoxO1 and ERK1/2 and reversed the PA-evoked reduction in the levels of these proteins. These results indicate that NGF protects RGC-5 cells against PA-induced injury through anti-oxidation and inhibition of apoptosis by modulation of the PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 signaling pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Pan-Shi
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medicine, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Feng
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Mental Health Center and Shenzhen Key Lab for Psychological Healthcare, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yuan-Yuan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Mental Health Center and Shenzhen Key Lab for Psychological Healthcare, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Wen
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3437-2457
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wen
keywords: Akt; ERK1/2; FoxO1; PI3K; RGC-5 cells; apoptosis; nerve growth factor; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; palmitic acid