HNF4A Negatively Regulated Posterior Capsular Opacification via Transcriptional Inhibition of MMP2

Posterior capsular opacification is the most common complication after cataract surgery. Abnormal proliferation, migration, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and extracellular matrix synthesis of residual lens epithelial cells are considered to be the main pathogenic mechanisms. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α has been reported to regulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition in different tumors. Our objective was to investigate the role and mechanism of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α in posterior capsular opacification.

Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α expression was tested in posterior capsular opacification rat lens capsules and cell models. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α was knocked down using small hairpin RNA. Cell viability was measured by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Cell migration ability was evaluated by wound healing and Transwell assays. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers were detected by Western blotting. Transcriptome sequencing was used to screen for downstream effectors of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and a dual luciferase reporter assay were used to determine the binding of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α to the MMP2 promoter region.

Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α was downregulated in posterior capsular opacification tissue and cell models. In vitro studies showed that hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α deletion facilitated cell proliferation, migration, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition protein marker expression in lens epithelial cells. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α knockdown promoted epithelial-mesenchymal transition and migration of lens epithelial cells via MMP2. Mechanistically, hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α decreased MMP2 expression by binding to the MMP2 promoter region. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α deletion also promoted epithelial-mesenchymal transition in rat lens capsules.

We demonstrated that hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α inhibited epithelial-mesenchymal transition of lens epithelial cells by directly binding to the MMP2 promoter region and inhibiting the expression of MMP2, thus leading to retardation of posterior capsular opacification formation and development, suggesting that hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α is a potential therapeutic target for posterior capsular opacification.