| First Author | Kern TS | Year | 2010 |
| Journal | Am J Pathol | Volume | 176 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 2550-8 |
| PubMed ID | 20363911 | Mgi Jnum | J:160754 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4455071 | Doi | 10.2353/ajpath.2010.091062 |
| Citation | Kern TS, et al. (2010) Overexpression of Bcl-2 in vascular endothelium inhibits the microvascular lesions of diabetic retinopathy. Am J Pathol 176(5):2550-8 |
| abstractText | Recent studies on the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy have focused on correcting adverse biochemical alterations, but there have been fewer efforts to enhance prosurvival pathways. Bcl-2 is the archetypal member of a group of antiapoptotic proteins. In this study, we investigated the ability of overexpressing Bcl-2 in vascular endothelium to protect against early stages of diabetic retinopathy. Transgenic mice overexpressing Bcl-2 regulated by the pre-proendothelin promoter were generated, resulting in increased endothelial Bcl-2. Diabetes was induced with streptozotocin, and mice were sacrificed at 2 months of study to measure superoxide generation, leukostasis, and immunohistochemistry, and at 7 months to assess retinal histopathology. Diabetes of 2 months duration caused a significant decrease in expression of Bcl-2 in retina, upregulation of Bax in whole retina and isolated retinal microvessels, and increased generation of retinal superoxide and leukostasis. Seven months of diabetes caused a significant increase in the number of degenerate (acellular) capillaries in diabetic animals. Furthermore, overexpression of Bcl-2 in the vascular endothelium inhibited the diabetes-induced degeneration of retinal capillaries and aberrant superoxide generation, but had no effect on Bax expression or leukostasis. Therefore, overexpression of Bcl-2 in endothelial cells inhibits the capillary degeneration that is characteristic of the early stages of diabetic retinopathy, and this effect seems likely to involve inhibition of oxidative stress. |
