Fullerenol protects cornea from ultraviolet B exposure
Xia Chen,
Junling Yang,
Minghui Li,
Shuang Zhu,
Maoru Zhao,
Cao Yang,
Bo Liu,
Hui Gao,
Ao Lu,
Lingling Ge,
Lingyue Mo,
Zhanjun Gu,
Haiwei Xu
Affiliations
Xia Chen
Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China; Key Lab of Visual Damage and Regeneration & Restoration of Chongqing, Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, 400038, China; Clinical Medical Research Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China
Junling Yang
Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China; Key Lab of Visual Damage and Regeneration & Restoration of Chongqing, Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, 400038, China
Minghui Li
Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China; Key Lab of Visual Damage and Regeneration & Restoration of Chongqing, Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, 400038, China
Shuang Zhu
CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety and CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of High Energy Physics and National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; College of Materials Science and Optoelectronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Maoru Zhao
CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety and CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of High Energy Physics and National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; College of Materials Science and Optoelectronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Cao Yang
Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China; Key Lab of Visual Damage and Regeneration & Restoration of Chongqing, Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, 400038, China
Bo Liu
Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China; Key Lab of Visual Damage and Regeneration & Restoration of Chongqing, Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, 400038, China
Hui Gao
Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China; Key Lab of Visual Damage and Regeneration & Restoration of Chongqing, Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, 400038, China
Ao Lu
Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China; Key Lab of Visual Damage and Regeneration & Restoration of Chongqing, Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, 400038, China
Lingling Ge
Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China; Key Lab of Visual Damage and Regeneration & Restoration of Chongqing, Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, 400038, China
Lingyue Mo
Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China; Key Lab of Visual Damage and Regeneration & Restoration of Chongqing, Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, 400038, China
Zhanjun Gu
CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety and CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of High Energy Physics and National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; College of Materials Science and Optoelectronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Corresponding author. CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety and CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of High Energy Physics and National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Haiwei Xu
Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China; Key Lab of Visual Damage and Regeneration & Restoration of Chongqing, Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, 400038, China; Corresponding author. Southwest Eye Hospital, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, 400038, China.
The eyes are highly susceptible to the oxidative stress induced by ultraviolet B (UVB, wavelength between 280 ∼ 320 nm), which could cause severe damage to the cornea. Fullerenols are effective antioxidants to alleviate UVB-induced injury, while their application for the eyes is still rare. In present study, we investigated the protective performance and mechanism of fullerenols on cornea under UVB radiation in vivo and in vitro. The synthesized fullerenols exhibited broad-spectrum free radical scavenging properties (applicable to both reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS)) and photo-stability. When compared with another widely used antioxidant glutathione (GSH), the administration of fullerenols markedly decreased the injured area, corneal edema, cell death, and increased the cell proliferation in UVB-induced rat cornea. The effects of fullerenols were confirmed in UVB-exposed human corneal epithelial cells (hCECs), where elevated cell viability and proliferation, decreased oxidative free radical production, repaired mitochondrial dysfunction and DNA lesions were observed. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis demonstrated that fullerenol alleviated UVB-induced corneal injury through down-regulation of oxidative stress-related genes and up-regulation of proliferation-associated genes. Our results demonstrate the suitability of fullerenols as a potential exogenous treatment in ameliorating UVB-induced cornea damage.
