Essential Role of XBP1 in Maintaining Photoreceptor Synaptic Integrity in Early Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of blindness in working-age adults characterized by retinal dysfunction and neurovascular degeneration. We previously reported that deletion of X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) leads to accelerated retinal neurodegeneration in diabetes; however, the mechanisms remain elusive. The goal of this study is to determine the role of XBP1 in the regulation of photoreceptor synaptic integrity in early DR.

Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin in retina-specific XBP1 conditional knockout (cKO) or wild-type (WT) mice to generate diabetic cKO (cKO/DM) or WT/DM mice for comparison with nondiabetic cKO (cKO/NDM) and WT/NDM mice. Retinal morphology, structure, and function were assessed by immunohistochemistry, optical coherence tomography, and electroretinogram (ERG) after 3 months of diabetes. The synapses between photoreceptors and bipolar cells were examined by confocal microscopy, and synaptic integrity was quantified using the QUANTOS algorithm.

We found a thinning of the outer nuclear layer and a decline in the b-wave amplitude in dark- and light-adapted ERG in cKO/DM mice compared to all other groups. In line with these changes, cKO mice showed increased loss of synaptic integrity compared to WT mice, regardless of diabetes status. In searching for candidate molecules responsible for the loss of photoreceptor synaptic integrity in diabetic and XBP1-deficient retinas, we found decreased mRNA and protein levels of DLG4/PSD-95 in cKO/DM retina compared to WT/DM.

These findings suggest that XBP1 is a crucial regulator in maintaining synaptic integrity and retinal function, possibly through regulation of synaptic scaffold proteins.