Molecular Mechanisms of and Potential Therapies for Oxidative Damage to the Retinal Pigment Epithelium

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dc.contributor.advisorRoque, Rouel S.
dc.contributor.committeeMemberWordinger, Robert J.
dc.contributor.committeeMemberDas, Hriday
dc.creatorWang, Zhaohui
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-22T21:24:33Z
dc.date.available2019-08-22T21:24:33Z
dc.date.issued2007-09-01
dc.date.submitted2013-11-15T13:18:03-08:00
dc.description.abstractWang, Zhaohui, Molecular Mechanisms of and Potential Therapies for Oxidative Damage to the Retinal Pigment Epithelium. Doctor of Philosophy (Biomedical Sciences), September 2007, 161 pages, 34 illustrations, bibliography, 119 titles. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of irreversible vision loss in the elderly, results mainly from degeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and loss of photoreceptor cells. Oxidative stress has been acknowledged as a leading cause of RPE degeneration and concomitant photoreceptor cell loss, but the exact role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in RPE cell death remains to be established. Moreover, while mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are suggested to be involved in RPE degeneration induced by oxidative stress, the precise functions and molecular mechanisms of MAPKs in RPE degeneration remain elusive. In spite of the numerous therapeutic modalities proposed for AMD, the treatment of AMD remains unsatisfactory. Recent studies suggesting stem cells as a potential source for trophic factors in damaged murine hearts led us to investigate a possible role for stem/progenitor cell-derived factors in protecting RPE cells from oxidative damage. Furthermore, human retinal progenitor cells promote RPE cell survival by regulating p42/p44 MAPK activity. When exposed to oxidative stress produced by glucose oxidase/glucose, human RPE cells exhibited membrane blebbing and cytoskeleton remodeling in the early phase of oxidative stress. Prolonged exposure to oxidative stress induced mitochondrial membrane potential depolarization, cell death and DNA condensation, but not DNA fragmentation. Furthermore, both p38 MAPK and p42/p44 MAPK were activated by oxidative injury. P38 MAPK inhibitor, but not p38 MAPK siRNA, inhibited RPE cell death induced by oxidative stress. Overexpression of constitutively active MEK1 inhibited RPE cell death exposed to oxidative damage. In contrast, interfering p42/p44 MAPK expression accelerated oxidative-stress induced RPE cell death. To investigate the effects of human retinal progenitor cells (hRPC) on RPE cells, we isolated and expanded hRPC in vitro. The hRPCs expressed markers of neuronal and retinal progenitor cells, and were capable of differentiating into neuronal phenotype in defined medium. In the presence of 10% fetal bovine serum, hPRC suppressed RPE cell death induced by oxidative damage. Furthermore, conditioned medium of hRPC induced activation of p42/p44 MAPK, and the protective effect of hRPC and conditioned medium was suppressed by p42/p44 MAPK inhibitor. Our studies increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that could be employed to rescue RPE cells from degeneration and support the therapeutic potential of retinal progenitor cells. It will provide further insight into molecular mechanisms of AMD and establish a foundation for the long-term prevention and treatment of AMD
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12503/29310
dc.language.isoen
dc.provenance.legacyDownloads0
dc.subjectCell Anatomy
dc.subjectCell and Developmental Biology
dc.subjectCell Biology
dc.subjectCellular and Molecular Physiology
dc.subjectDevelopmental Biology
dc.subjectEye Diseases
dc.subjectGenetics and Genomics
dc.subjectLife Sciences
dc.subjectMedical Cell Biology
dc.subjectMedicine and Health Sciences
dc.subjectOphthalmology
dc.subjectOptometry
dc.subjectOther Cell and Developmental Biology
dc.subjectSense Organs
dc.subjectVision Science
dc.subjectMolecular mechanisms
dc.subjectpotential therapies
dc.subjectoxidative damage
dc.subjectretinal pigment epithelium
dc.subjectvision loss
dc.subjectRPE
dc.subjectphotoreceptor cells
dc.subjectreactive oxygen species
dc.subjectmitogen-activated protein kinases
dc.subjectage-related macular degeneration
dc.subjectcell death
dc.subjectapoptosis
dc.subjectfetal bovine serum
dc.titleMolecular Mechanisms of and Potential Therapies for Oxidative Damage to the Retinal Pigment Epithelium
dc.typeDissertation
dc.type.materialtext
thesis.degree.departmentGraduate School of Biomedical Sciences
thesis.degree.disciplineBiomedical Sciences
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy

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