title: Retinal pigment epithelium-secretome: A diabetic retinopathy perspective.
abstract: Diabetic retinopathy is a major complication of diabetes mellitus that can lead to retinal vascular abnormalities and visual impairment. While retinal endothelial pathology is well studied, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) layer modifications and the patho-physiological regulations are not widely understood. The RPE is a highly specialized pigmented layer regulating not only physiological functions such as transport of nutrients, ions, absorption of light, phagocytosis of photoreceptor membranes, but also secretion of a number of cytokines, chemokines, angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors. The RPE secretome, though crucial in health and disease, remains elusive in diabetic retinopathy. A knowledge of these secreted factors would help explain and correlate the clinical phase of the disease aiding in improved disease management. A comprehensive knowledge of the secreted factors of the RPE is a potential tool for understanding the differential treatment regime of early diabetic retinopathy, diabetic proliferative retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. In this review, we have delineated the importance of factors secreted by the retinal pigment epithelium and its regulation in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research Laboratory, GROW Laboratory, Narayana Nethralaya Foundation, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Murugeswari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ponnalagu
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research Laboratory, GROW Laboratory, Narayana Nethralaya Foundation, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Murali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Subramani
authors.affiliation: Department of Vitreo-retina Services, Narayana Nethralaya Eye Hospital, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Chaitra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jayadev
authors.affiliation: Department of Cornea and Refractive Surgery, Narayana Nethralaya Eye Hospital, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Rohit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shetty
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research Laboratory, GROW Laboratory, Narayana Nethralaya Foundation, Bangalore, India. Electronic address: dasdebashish@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Debashish
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Das
mesh_terms: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D042501:Angiogenic Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D051381:Rats; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D042501:Angiogenic Proteins; D016207:Cytokines
keywords: Cytokines; Diabetic retinopathy; Neovascularization; Retinal pigment epithelium; Secretory factors; VEGF