Effect of suppression of platelet-derived growth factor-α receptor expression with antisense oligonucleotide on proliferation and apoptosis of retinal pigment epithelium cell

Abstract

Background Retinal pigment epithelial(RPE) cells can secrete platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and PDGF receptor(PDGFR).Studies have shown that PDGF plays a key role in the formation of proliferative vitreous retinopathy(PVR). Objective This study was to investigate the proliferation and apoptosis changes of RPE after blockage of the PDGFR-α expression by antisense oligonucleotide ( ASODN ) in vitro. Methods Human RPE cells strain was cultured in low glucose DMEM with 10％ fetal bovine serum.Logarithmic phase cells were collected and incubated in 96-well plate at the density of 5 × 105 cells/hole.PDGFR-α ASODN was transfected into RPE cells at different concentrations for 48 hours.The cells of the blank control group were regularly cultured without any transfection.The changes of PDGFR-α expression were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR),and the proliferation of RPE was detected by MTT as the A490 value.Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining was used to determine the apoptosis of RPE.Flow cytometry method (FCM) was applied to detect the change of cell cycle and apoptosis rate of RPE cells. Results The A490 values of RPE cells were 1.45±0.12,1.07±0.06,0.65±0.05 in blank control group,1.0 μmol/L Lipo-ASODN group and 2.0 μmol/L Lipo-ASODN group with the significant difference(P=0.00 ),and that of 1.0 μmol/L Lipo-ASODN group and 2.0 μ mol/L Lipo-ASODN group were significantly lower than the blank control group ( P =0.00,0.00).Hoechst 33258 staining showed that the apoptosis cells were obviously more in Lipo-ASODN group compared with blank control group.PDGFR-α ASODN transfection induced an increase of percentage of RPE cells in G0/G1 phase( F =206.70,P =0.00),and the apoptosis rates in 1.0 μmol/L Lipo-ASODN group and 2.0 μmol/L Lipo-ASODN group were significantly enhanced in comparison with blank control group ( 37.8 ± 1.3 vs 10.5 ± 0.1,61.2 ± 1.9 vs 10.5 ± 0.1 ) ( F =1808.90,P =0.00 ).Expression intensity of PDGFR-α mRNA in RPE cells in Lipo-ASODN groups was lower. Conclusions Blocking the PDGFR-α expression with ASODN technology can suppress proliferation and induce apoptosis of RPE cells.Intensity of PDGFR-α mRNA expression in RPE cells is ASODN dose-dependent.ASODN targeted to PDGFR-α offers an experimental basis of the gene therapy for PVR. Key words: Platelet-derived growth factor-α receptor; Antisense oligonucleotide; Retinal pigment epithelial cell; Proliferation; Apoptosis