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Moderate oxidative stress promotes epithelial–mesenchymal transition in the lens epithelial cells via the TGF-β/Smad and Wnt/β-catenin pathways

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Abstract

The epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a significant role in fibrosis and migration of lens epithelial cells (LECs), and eventually induces posterior capsule opacification (PCO). In the past, it was generally believed that the TGF-β/Smad pathway regulates lens EMT. A recent study found that attenuated glutathione level promotes LECs EMT via the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, which suggests a more complex pathogenesis of PCO. To test the hypothesis, we used the mouse cataract surgery PCO model and tested both canonical Wnt/β-catenin and TGF-β/Smad signaling pathways. The results showed that both TGF-β/Smad and Wnt/β-catenin pathways were activated during the lens capsule fibrosis. Compared with the freshly isolated posterior capsule, the expression level of phosphorylated Smad2 was highest at day3 and then slightly decreased, but the expression level of Wnt10a gradually increased from day0 to day7. It shows that these two pathways are involved in the lens epithelium’s fibrotic process and may play different roles in different periods. Subsequently, we established oxidative stress-induced EMT model in primary porcine lens epithelial cells and found that both the TGF-β/Smad and Wnt/β-catenin pathways were activated. Further study suggests that block Wnt/β-catenin pathway using XAV939 alone or block TGF-β/Smad pathway using LY2109761 could partially block pLECs fibrosis, but blocking Wnt/β-catenin and TGF-β/Smad pathway using combined XAV939 and LY2109761 could completely block pLECs fibrosis. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that both TGF-β/Smad and canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathways play a significant role in regulating epithelial–mesenchymal transformation of lens epithelial cells but might be in a different stage.

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The analyzed datasets generated during the study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

EMT:

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition

LECs:

Lens epithelial cells

pLECs:

Porcine lens epithelial cells

PCO:

Posterior capsule opacification

IOL:

Intraocular lens

H2O2 :

Hydrogen peroxide

BSO:

Buthionine sulfoximine

TGF-β:

Transforming growth factor β

GSK-3β:

Glycogen synthase kinase 3β

APC:

Adenomatous polyposis coli

CK1:

Casein kinase 1

LRP6:

Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6

α-SMA:

α-smooth muscle actin

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Professor Xinjun Fan of Department of Cellular and Anatomy, James and Jean Culver Vision Discovery Institute, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, GA, USA, for his assistance with the experiments and valuable discussion. Thanks to the Chongqing Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology (Chongqing, China) for providing the experiment platform.

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO: 81873674).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400010, China

    Xi Chen, Guo Li & Xiyuan Zhou

  2. Shaanxi Eye Hospital, Affiliated Xi’an Fourth Hospital, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710004, Shaanxi Province, China

    Hong Yan & Ying Chen

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016, China

    Yue Bin

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  1. Xi Chen
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HY conceived the research; XC acquired the data and wrote the manuscript; YC, GL, and YB analyzed the data; XZ supervised the research.

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Correspondence to Xiyuan Zhou.

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Chen, X., Yan, H., Chen, Y. et al. Moderate oxidative stress promotes epithelial–mesenchymal transition in the lens epithelial cells via the TGF-β/Smad and Wnt/β-catenin pathways. Mol Cell Biochem 476, 1631–1642 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-020-04034-9

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