Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of erythropoietin (EPO) on RhoA/Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) expression in rat retinal explants cultured with glutamate. After the retinal explants were cultured in serum-free R16 nutrient medium for 24 h, the retinal explants were divided into control (R16 nutrient medium), glutamate (R16 nutrient medium containing 5 mM/l glutamate) and glutamate+EPO (R16 nutrient medium containing 5 mM/l glutamate and 6.0 U/ml EPO) groups, and culturing was continued for another 72 h. The mRNA and protein expression of total RhoA, ROCK1 and ROCK2 in the retinal explants was examined by RT-PCR and western blotting, and active RhoA in the retinal explants was detected via GST-RBD binding and immunoblotting with an antibody specific to active RhoA. The total RhoA mRNA and protein expression did not differ substantially between the control, the glutamate and the glutamate+EPO groups. The glutamate increased the active RhoA, ROCK1 and ROCK2 expression in cultured retinal explants (P<0.05), whereas the expression of active RhoA, ROCK1 and ROCK2 in the glutamate + EPO group was significantly lower than that in the simple glutamate group (P<0.05) and similar to that in the control group. In conclusion, EPO downregulates active RhoA, ROCK1 and ROCK2 expression in retinal explants cultured with glutamate.
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