Glaucoma is currently recognized to
be a multifactorial, progressive, neurodegenerative disorder. It is characterized by the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) loss of axons as well as optic nerve atrophy, progressive degeneration of RGCs till cell death. In this
work, we used DBA/2J mice as a model of spontaneous glaucoma and we
investigated the involvement of BDNF and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
(MAPK) pathways in correlation with IOP elevation and progression of
neurodegenerative processes in the retina of DBA/2J mice.
In particular, we
performed western blot analysis to study retinal levels of the BDNF and its
receptor, TrkB, and to better understand possible modulation of p38 MAPK and
ERK1/2 activation at different stages of retinal degeneration in DBA/2J mice.
We showed that BDNF starts to decrease already at an early stage in correspondence to IOP elevation (7 months of age). MAPKs, in particular p38
MAPK and ERK1/2, appeared maximally affected at more advanced stages of neuro degeneration
(10-12 and 18 months of age) characterized by RGC degeneration and death, optic
nerve atrophy. Thus, BDNF signaling and MAPKs are differentially activated at
different stages of retinal degeneration in DBA/2J mice, a murine model of
glaucoma.a
No comments:
Post a Comment