Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. Mar 15, 2024; 15(3): 519-529
Published online Mar 15, 2024. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v15.i3.519
Diabetes and high-glucose could upregulate the expression of receptor for activated C kinase 1 in retina
Jian Tan, Ang Xiao, Lin Yang, Yu-Lin Tao, Yi Shao, Qiong Zhou
Jian Tan, Ang Xiao, Lin Yang, Yu-Lin Tao, Yi Shao, Qiong Zhou, Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China
Co-first authors: Jian Tan and Ang Xiao.
Author contributions: Tan J, Xiao A, Yang L, Tao YL, Shao Y and Zhou Q designed the research study; Tan J, Xiao A and Yang L performed the research; Tan J and Shao Y contributed new reagents and analytic tools; Tan J and Zhou Q analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript. Tan J and Xiao A contributed equally to this work as co-first authors. The reasons for designating Tan J and Xiao A as co-first authors are threefold. First, Tan J and Xiao A made equal contributions to the project research. Secondly, both Tan J and Xiao A actively participated in subsequent revisions and communication related to the paper. Finally, co-authorship serves to better exemplify collaboration within the team. In summary, we believe that designating Tan J and Xiao A as co-first authors of is fitting for our manuscript as it accurately reflects our team's collaborative spirit, equal contributions, and diversity.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82260211; Key Research and Development Project in Jiangxi Province, No. 20203BBG73058; Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Project in Jiangxi Province, No. 2020A0166.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at zqndyfy@163.com.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE Guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE Guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Qiong Zhou, Doctor, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, No. 17 Yongwaizheng Street, Donghu District, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China. zqndyfy@163.com
Received: October 12, 2023
Peer-review started: October 12, 2023
First decision: December 6, 2023
Revised: December 8, 2023
Accepted: January 18, 2024
Article in press: January 18, 2024
Published online: March 15, 2024
Processing time: 154 Days and 21.8 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major ocular complication of diabetes mellitus, leading to visual impairment. Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) injury is a key component of the outer blood retinal barrier, and its damage is an important indicator of DR.

Research motivation

Therefore, inhibiting receptor for activated C kinase 1 (RACK1) may be a potential therapeutic strategy to slow down the progression of early DR by regulating protein kinase C-ε/ reactive oxygen species (PKC-ε/ROS).

Research objectives

Knockdown of RACK1 can reduce the activity of PKC-ε and the production of ROS, thereby alleviating cellular oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. By reducing the excessive activation of PKC-ε/ROS, the occurrence and progression of early DR can be reduced.

Research methods

In this study, Sprague-Dawley rats and adult RPE cell line-19 (ARPE-19) cells were used as in vivo and in vitro models, respectively, to explore the role of RACK1 in mediating PKC-ε in early DR. Furthermore, the effect on the apoptosis and barrier function of RPE cells was also investigated in the former model.

Research results

Knockdown of RACK1 can reduce the activity of PKC-ε and the production of ROS, thereby alleviating cellular oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. By reducing the excessive activation of PKC-ε/ROS, the occurrence and progression of early DR can be reduced.

Research conclusions

this study proposes that by reducing the excessive activation of PKC-ε/ROS, the occurrence and progression of early DR can be reduced. This may be achieved through the reduction of cellular oxidative stress and inflammatory response, improvement of retinal cell survival and function, and the reduction of vascular lesions and inflammatory infiltration.

Research perspectives

One of the main limitations of this study is that all the mechanistic experiments were conducted in ARPE-19 cells. Future studies need to confirm the effect of RACK1 on the oBRB in diabetic rats.