Involvement of <i>Lgals3</i>/Galectin-3 in Choroidal Neovascularization and Subretinal Fibrosis Formation
Di Wu,
Ye Liu,
Xiaogang Luo,
Zhiqing Chen,
Qiuli Fu,
Ke Yao
Affiliations
Di Wu
Eye Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Institute on Eye Diseases, Hangzhou 310051, China
Ye Liu
Eye Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Institute on Eye Diseases, Hangzhou 310051, China
Xiaogang Luo
Eye Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Institute on Eye Diseases, Hangzhou 310051, China
Zhiqing Chen
Eye Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Institute on Eye Diseases, Hangzhou 310051, China
Qiuli Fu
Eye Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Institute on Eye Diseases, Hangzhou 310051, China
Ke Yao
Eye Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Institute on Eye Diseases, Hangzhou 310051, China
Background: Lgals3/galectin-3 plays a pivotal role in many vascular diseases. However, the involvement of Lgals3/galectin-3 in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) remains unknown. Methods: In the laser-induced CNV model, a whole mount retina stained with Isolectin B4 and collagen type I revealed the vascular bed and CNV-associated subretinal fibrosis on day 7 after laser treatment. Results: We show that the expression levels of Lgals3/galectin-3 were significantly increased in the RPE/choroidal complex of CNV mice. An intravitreal injection of Lgals3-siRNA significantly suppressed the area of CNV and subretinal fibrosis, together with Mcp-1 decline. The mixture of Lgals3-siRNA and Ranibizumab showed more efficiency than each drug used separately. Hypoxia induced Lgals3/galectin-3 production in ARPE-19 cells, which was reduced by the silencing hypoxia-inducible factor -1α (Hif-1a). Conclusions: Our data indicated that Lgals3/galectin-3 is involved in the pathogenesis of CNV and subretinal fibrosis, and Lgals3/galectin-3 could be a potential therapeutic target for nAMD.
