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Transcriptome‐wide study of the response of human trabecular meshwork cells to the substrate stiffness increase
Author(s) -
Tie Jinjun,
Chen Dong,
Guo Junhong,
Liao Shengjie,
Luo Xiaotian,
Zhang Yu,
Guo Ruru,
Xu Chenjia,
Huang Dandan,
Zhang Yi,
Wang Jiantao
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of cellular biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1097-4644
pISSN - 0730-2312
DOI - 10.1002/jcb.29578
Subject(s) - trabecular meshwork , transcriptome , extracellular matrix , microbiology and biotechnology , glaucoma , in vitro , cell , gene expression , biology , chemistry , gene , biochemistry , neuroscience
Elevated intraocular pressure, a major risk factor of glaucoma, is caused by the abnormal function of trabecular outflow pathways. Human trabecular meshwork (HTM) tissue plays an important role in the outflow pathways. However, the molecular mechanisms that how TM cells respond to the elevated IOP are largely unknown. We cultured primary HTM cells on polyacrylamide gels with tunable stiffness corresponding to Young's moduli ranging from 1.1 to 50 kPa. Then next‐generation RNA sequencing (RNA‐seq) was performed to obtain the transcriptomic profiles of HTM cells. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that genes related to glaucoma including DCN , SPARC , and CTGF , were significantly increased with elevated substrate stiffness, as well as the global alteration of HTM transcriptome. Extracellular matrix (ECM)‐related genes were selectively activated in response to the elevated substrate stiffness, consistent with the known molecular alteration in glaucoma. Human normal and glaucomatous TM tissues were also obtained to perform RNA‐seq experiments and supported the substrate stiffness‐altered transcriptome profiles from the in vitro cell model. The current study profiled the transcriptomic changes in human TM cells upon increasing substrate stiffness. Global change of ECM‐related genes indicates that the in vitro substrate stiffness could greatly affect the biological processes of HTM cells. The in vitro HTM cell model could efficiently capture the main pathogenetic process in glaucoma patients, and provide a powerful method to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms.