miR-204-5p promotes diabetic retinopathy development via downregulation of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3.

miR-204-5p promotes diabetic retinopathy development via downregulation of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3. Exp Ther Med. 2019 Apr;17(4):2945-2952 Authors: Mao XB, Cheng YH, Xu YY Abstract Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a chronic and progressive complication of diabetes mellitus. DR impairs sight due to neuronal and vascular dysfunction in the retina. It is critical to investigate the pathogenesis of DR to develop effective treatment. In the present study, a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat model was constructed and the expression of microRNA (miR)-204-5p and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were determined. Immunohistochemistry, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting were employed to detect the effects of miR-204-5p on the expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3B). RT-qPCR analysis demonstrated that miR-204-5p and VEGF were significantly upregulated in the retina tissue of diabetic rats compared with the control group (P<0.01). Immunohistochemistry and western blotting revealed that the protein expression levels of LC3B-II and the ratio of LC3B-II/LC3B-I were significantly suppressed in the diabetes group compared with the control (P<0.01). In retinal tissues, anti-miR-204-5p treatment significantly enhanced the protein expression levels of LC3B-II and the ratio of LC3B-II/LC3B-I and these levels were significantly red...
Source: Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine - Category: General Medicine Tags: Exp Ther Med Source Type: research