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Endomucin restores depleted endothelial glycocalyx in the retinas of streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rats
Author(s) -
Niu Tian,
Zhao Mengya,
Jiang Yan,
Xing Xindan,
Shi Xin,
Cheng Lu,
Jin Huiyi,
Liu Kun
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fj.201901161r
Subject(s) - glycocalyx , streptozotocin , diabetic retinopathy , vascular permeability , retina , blood–retinal barrier , retinal , endothelial stem cell , inflammation , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , diabetes mellitus , endocrinology , chemistry , biology , immunology , in vitro , ophthalmology , biochemistry , neuroscience
Endothelial glycocalyx plays a significant role in the development and progression of diabetic complications. Endomucin (EMCN) is an anti‐inflammatory membrane glycoprotein that is mainly expressed in venous and capillary endothelial cells. However, the function of EMCN in diabetic retinopathy (DR) progression is still completely unknown. We first investigated the change of EMCN expression in the retina and human retinal microvascular endothelial cells. We then overexpressed EMCN in the retina with adeno‐associated virus and induced DR with streptozotocin (STZ). We analyzed EMCN's effect on the integrity of endothelial glycocalyx under conditions of DR. Furthermore, we investigated EMCN's protective effect against inflammation and blood‐retinal barrier (BRB) destruction. We found that EMCN is specifically expressed in retinal endothelial cells and that its levels are decreased during hyperglycemia in vitro and in vivo. Overexpression of EMCN can restore the retinal endothelial glycocalyx of STZ‐induced diabetic rats. Furthermore, EMCN overexpression can decrease leukocyte‐endothelial adhesion to ameliorate inflammation and stabilize the BRB to inhibit vessel leakage in rats with DR. EMCN may protect patients with diabetes from retinal vascular degeneration by restoring the endothelial glycocalyx. EMCN may thus represent a novel therapeutic strategy for DR because it targets endothelial glycocalyx degradation associated with this disease.—Niu, T., Zhao, M., Jiang, Y., Xing, X., Shi, X., Cheng, L., Jin, H., Liu, K. Endomucin restores depleted endothelial glycocalyx in the retinas of streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rats. FASEB J. 33, 13346–13357 (2019). www.fasebj.org