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The effect of Wnt/β-catenin pathway on the scleral remolding in the mouse during form deprivation

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Abstract

Background

Many reports have shown that Wnt/β-Catenin pathway is associated with a variety of diseases, but its role in the pathogenesis of myopia is still unknown. In order to clarify the role of Wnt/β-catenin pathway in the development of form deprivation myopia (FDM), this study investigated the expression of scleral Wls, β-catenin and TCF4 in mice model of form deprivation (FD) myopia.

Methods

Three parallel experimental groups, including FD, monocular exposure (SC) and binocular exposure (NC) group, were designed to investigate the effects of Wnt/β-Catenin pathway on scleral remodeling mouse during form deprivation in three-week-old C57BL/6 mice. Diopters and axial lengths (AL) in each sample were measured with an infrared eccentric refractometer or spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. The expression of scleral Wls, β-catenin and TCF4 were detected with Western blot. Morphological changes of posterior sclera were observed with a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The above characterization and analysis were performed on the 0th, 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th days, respectively.

Results

The difference of diopter and AL between the three groups (SC, NC and FD group) gradually increased with the prolongation of FD time (except AL between SC and NC groups). The changes of diopter and AL gradually increased with the prolongation of FD time. Especially, the diopter and AL will increase sharply after FD lasts for a long time, such as the measurement on the 21st for diopter and 28th days for AL. Most notably, the AL of FD eyes significantly increased after 28 days of deprivation. Thinning and disordered arrangement of collagen fibers and a decrease of extracellular matrix were observed with TEM. The expression of scleral Wls, β-catenin and TCF4 increased with age in the NC and SC group. In FD group, they increased significantly on the 7th, 14th and 21st days but decreased on the 28th day.

Conclusions

The expression of Wls, β-Catenin and TCF4 to FD were more sensitive indicators than that of diopter and AL. Within the first 7 days of FD, the expression of Wls, β-Catenin and TCF4 in sclera increased sharply. With the extension of FD duration, it gradually decreased. It is suggested that the Wnt/β-catenin pathway might be involved in the scleral remodeling induced in FDM mice.

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Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

AL:

Axial length

ARVO:

Association for research in vision and ophthalmology

ECM:

Extracellular matrix

FDM:

Form deprivation myopia

NC:

Normal control

SC:

Self-control

TCF4:

T cell factor 4

TEM:

Transmission electron microscopy

Wls:

Wntless

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Professor Renhong Tang for general support.

Funding

This study was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (No. KY030111) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82071002). However, the funding organization had no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis and interpretation of data or in writing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

    Shuyu Hu, Sha Ouyang, Hanhan Liu, Daren Zhang & Zhihong Deng

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  1. Shuyu Hu
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  2. Sha Ouyang
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  3. Hanhan Liu
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  4. Daren Zhang
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  5. Zhihong Deng
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Contributions

Conception and design: DZ, Administrative support: ZD, Collection and assembly of data: SH, Laboratory analysis and interpretation: DZ, SH, Manuscript writing: SO, HL, Final approval of manuscript: All authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhihong Deng.

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Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All animal experiments were conducted in accordance with the ARVO Statement of Animals in Ophthalmic and Vision Research and approved by the institutional review board (IRB) of the third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, which have authorization for animal experiments.

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Hu, S., Ouyang, S., Liu, H. et al. The effect of Wnt/β-catenin pathway on the scleral remolding in the mouse during form deprivation. Int Ophthalmol 41, 3099–3107 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-021-01875-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-021-01875-1

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