Expression of thrombospondin-1 in ischemia-induced retinal neovascularization

Thrombospondin-1 is an extracellular matrix protein that inhibits endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. This study was performed to investigate the role of thrombospondin-1 in ischemic retinal neovascularization. In a murine model of retinal neovascularization, thrombospondin-1 mRNA was increased from postnatal day 13 (P13), with a threefold peak response observed on P15, corresponding to the time of development of retinal neovascularization. Prominent expression of thrombospondin-1 was observed in neovascular cells, specifically, cells adjacent to the area of nonperfusion. It has been suggested that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a major role in ischemia-induced retinal neovascularization of this model, so we studied the effects of VEGF on thrombospondin-1 expression. In bovine retinal microcapillary endothelial cells, VEGF induced a biphasic response of thrombospondin-1 expression; VEGF decreased thrombospondin-1 mRNA 0.41-fold after 4 hours, whereas it increased, with a threefold peak response, after 24 hours. VEGF-induced endothelial cell proliferation was completely inhibited by exogenous thrombospondin-1 and increased by 37.5% with anti-thrombospondin-1 antibody. The present findings suggest that, in the ischemic retina, retinal neovascular cells increase thrombospondin-1 expression, and VEGF may stimulate endogenous thrombospondin-1 induction, which inhibits endothelial cell growth. VEGF-mediated thrombospondin-1 induction in ischemia-induced angiogenesis may be a negative feedback mechanism.