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Updated: May 17, 2026
Experimental Models for Study of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Physiology and Pathophysiology
Published on: November 6, 2010
Platelet-derived growth factor induced alpha-smooth muscle actin expression by human retinal pigment epithelium cell
Yanfang Si1, Jun Wang, Juan Guan
1Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital 309 of PLA, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Purposes:
(1) To evaluate the association between expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) and the pathological grading of PVR, and the effect of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) on the expression of α-SMA by human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. (2) To investigate the potential induction of PDGF on the proliferation and migration of human RPE cells as well as the signaling pathways responsible.
Methods:
We immunohistochemically investigated the expression of α-SMA in PVR. To further investigate the effect of PDGF and the downstream signaling, exogenous PDGF-BB and signaling inhibitors were added to cultured human RPE cells. The MTT method was performed to detected cell proliferation, while cell migration was also measured.
Results:
α-SMA expression was positively correlated with the pathological grading of PVR. PDGF-BB could stimulate the proliferation and migration of cultured RPE cells through the participation of mitogen-activated protein kinase. In addition, PDGF induced α-SMA expression. The promotion of proliferate/migration and α-SMA expression by PDGF-BB was enhanced by the presence of serum.
Conclusions:
PDGF and α-SMA are 2 potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of PVR.
