Abstract
In hypertensive retinopathy, the retinal damage due to high blood pressure is accompanied by increased expression of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP), which indicates a role of neuroinflammatory processes in such a retinopathy. Proteins belonging to the Rho GTPase family, particularly Rac1, are involved in the activation of Müller glia and in the progression of photoreceptor degeneration, and may thus represent a novel candidate for therapeutic intervention following central nervous system inflammation. In this paper, we have observed that topical administration as eye drops of Cytotoxic Necrotizing Factor 1 (CNF1), a Rho GTPase modulator, surprisingly improves electrophysiological and behavioral visual performances in aged spontaneously hypertensive rats. Furthermore, such functional improvement is accompanied by a reduction of Rac1 activity and retinal GFAP expression. Our results suggest that Rac1 inhibition through CNF1 topical administration may represent a new strategy to target retinal gliosis.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 119-129 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Neuroscience |
Volume | 411 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 15 2019 |
Keywords
- Animals
- Bacterial Toxins/administration & dosage
- Disease Models, Animal
- Escherichia coli Proteins/administration & dosage
- Gliosis/drug therapy
- Hypertensive Retinopathy/drug therapy
- Male
- Ophthalmic Solutions
- Rats
- Rats, Inbred SHR
- Retina/drug effects
- Vision, Ocular/drug effects