Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 4, 2025
Alternate Immersion in Glucose to Produce Prolonged Hyperglycemia in Zebrafish
Published on: May 5, 2021
High glucose treatment promotes extracellular matrix proteome remodeling in Mller glial cells
Sandra Sagmeister1,2, Juliane Merl-Pham2, Agnese Petrera2
1Chair of Physiology, Department of Veterinary Sciences, LMU Munich, Martinsried, Germany.
Background:
The underlying pathomechanisms in diabetic retinopathy (DR) remain incompletely understood. The aim of this study was to add to the current knowledge about the particular role of retinal Mller glial cells (RMG) in the initial processes of DR.
Methods:
Applying a quantitative proteomic workflow, we investigated changes of primary porcine RMG under short term high glucose treatment as well as glycolysis inhibition treatment.
Results:
We revealed significant changes in RMG proteome primarily in proteins building the extracellular matrix (ECM) indicating fundamental remodeling processes of ECM as novel rapid response to high glucose treatment. Among others, Osteopontin (SPP1) as well as its interacting integrins were significantly downregulated and organotypic retinal explant culture confirmed the selective loss of SPP1 in RMG upon treatment. Since SPP1 in the retina has been described neuroprotective for photoreceptors and functions against experimentally induced cell swelling, its rapid loss under diabetic conditions may point to a direct involvement of RMG to the early neurodegenerative processes driving DR. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD015879.
