Increased ER stress as a mechanism of retinal neurovasculopathy in mice with severe hyperhomocysteinemia.

ABSTRACT: Hyperhomocysteinemia is implicated in retinal neurovascular diseases including arterial occlusive disease, venous occlusive disease and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma. The mechanism for these diseases is not known. Here we used hyperhomocysteinemic mice lacking the gene encoding cystathionine-beta-synthase (cbs^-/-) to examine whether ER stress could be a mechanism for the retinal neurovasculopathy reported in these mice. Retinas of cbs^+/+ and cbs^-/- mice (age: 3-5 wks) were used to investigate the expression of ER stress genes (BiP/GRP78, Perk, Atf6, Atf4, Ire1α, Chop) and the proteins they encode. The levels of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and cleaved cysteine-aspartic proteases-3 (caspase-3), proteins kno

SUBMITTER: Tawfik A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4287205 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature