PURPOSE Diabetes leads to progressive complications such as diabetic retinopathy, which is the leading cause of blindness within the working-age population worldwide. Interleukin (IL)-17A is a cytokine that promotes and progresses diabetes. The objective of this study was to determine the role of IL-17A in retinal capillary degeneration, and to identify the mechanism that induces retinal endothelial cell death. These are clinically meaningful abnormalities that characterize early-stage non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. METHODS Retinal capillary degeneration was examined in vivo using the streptozotocin (STZ) diabetes murine model. Diabetic-hyperglycemia was sustained for an 8-month period in wild type (C57BL/6) and IL-17A-/- mice to elucidate the role of IL-17A in retinal capillary degeneration. Further, ex vivo studies were performed in retinal endothelial cells to identify the IL-17A-dependent mechanism that induces cell death. RESULTS It was determined that diabetes-induced retinal capillary degeneration was significantly lower in IL-17A-/- mice. Further, retinal endothelial cell death occurred through an IL-17A/IL-17R ➔ Act1/FADD signaling cascade, which caused caspase-mediated apoptosis. CONCLUSION These are the first findings that establish a pathologic role for IL-17A in retinal capillary degeneration. Further, a novel IL-17A-dependent apoptotic mechanism was discovered, which identifies potential therapeutic targets for the early onset of diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetes induces IL-17A-Act1-FADD-dependent retinal endothelial cell death and capillary degeneration.
Sarah I. Lindstrom,S. Sigurdardottir,Thomas E. Zapadka,Jie-long Tang,Haitao Liu,Brooklyn E. Taylor,Dawn G. Smith,CHIEH-ALLEN Lee,John DeAngelis,T. Kern,Patricia R. Taylor
Published 2019 in Journal of diabetes and its complications
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2019
- Venue
Journal of diabetes and its complications
- Publication date
2019-09-01
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
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