Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To investigate the protective effect of salidroside (SAL) against abnormal activation of retinal Müller cells cultured in high glucose and its mechanism.
METHODS Müller cells were cultured in DME/F12 (1 : 1) medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum and 1% penicillin-streptomycin at 37 ℃ and 5% CO2. CCK-8 kit was used to detect cell viability among a serials of glucose concentration 25, 50, 75, 100, 150 mmol·L−1 and 75 mmol·L−1 glucose was determined to be the optimal concentration. The tests were divided into 6 groups: Control group, HG group, HG+SAL group, HG+IL-17A group, HG+SAL+IL-17A group, and HG+IL-17A+siRNA-TRAF6 group. Müller cells were tested for the expression of IL-17A levels by ELISA, intracellular ROS levels were examined by ROS assay kits, MDA assay kits detected the intracellular MDA level, and SOD activity by SOD assay kit. Cell immunofluorescence assay was performed to detect the localized expression of IL-17A and IL-17RA in Müller cells. Western blotting detected the protein expression levels of IL-17A, IL-17RA, TRAF6, NLRP3, GFAP, VEGF.
RESULTS Compared with the control group, Müller cells in the HG group expressed significantly higher levels of IL-17A, significantly higher levels of ROS and MDA, significantly lower SOD enzyme activity, and significantly higher levels of IL-17A, IL-17RA, TRAF6, NLRP3, GFAP and VEGF protein expression (P<0.05). After the administration of SAL, Müller cells expressed significantly lower levels of IL-17A, significantly lower levels of ROS and MDA, significantly higher SOD enzyme activity, and significantly lower levels of IL-17A, IL-17RA, TRAF6, NLRP3, GFAP and VEGF protein expression compared with the HG group (P<0.05). When IL-17A active molecules were given stimulation, the corresponding indexes continued to rise again (P<0.05), and Müller cells showed abnormal activation status. The cellular immunofluorescence assay showed that IL-17A and IL-17RA were localized and expressed in the cytoplasm and cell membrane.
CONCLUSION SAL improves the function of Müller cells cultured with high glucose, and the possible mechanism is related to the inhibition of the TRAF6/NLRP3 signaling pathway through the down-regulation of IL-17A expression.