Analysis of the molecular mechanism for human pigment epithelium-derived factor (hPEDF) mediated photoreceptor cell neuroprotection

本研究的主要观察结果如下：1)PEDF有效地挽救了血清饥饿诱导的大鼠视网膜r28细胞的凋亡；2)AIF而不是caspase是血清饥饿诱导的R28细胞凋亡的关键效应因子，PEDF阻止了AIF在血清饥饿后移位到细胞核内；3)AIF的核移位也出现在RCS大鼠的光感受器中，并在体内被PEDF的视网膜基因转移显著抑制，导致视网膜变性的显著延迟；4)PEDF通过上调Bcl2的表达来阻止AIF的释放。

The key observations made in this study are as follows: 1) PEDF efficiently rescued apoptosis induced by serum starvation in R28 cells derived from rat retina ; 2) AIF but not caspases was a key effector of the serum starvation-induced apoptosis, and PEDF prevented AIF from translocating into the nucleus after serum starvation; 3) Nuclear translocation of AIF was also observed in apoptotic photoreceptors of RCS rats, and was significantly inhibited by retinal gene transfer of PEDF in vivo, resulting in a substantial delay in retinal degeneration; and 4) PEDF prevented the AIF release through upregulation of Bcl-2.