Mechanisms of Diabetic Retinopathy: Oxidative Stress and Inflammation

描述（由申请人提供）： 本研究的长期目标是阐明导致糖尿病视网膜病变的分子机制，并确定预防或逆转血管损伤的新策略。拟议的研究旨在确定ROS失调的细胞和分子来源，确定它们在损伤视网膜血管中的具体作用，并评估阻断/逆转损伤的潜在疗法。研究人员已经表明，超氧化物生成NADPH氧化酶NOX 2的激活是糖尿病和其他以视网膜炎性损伤为特征的疾病期间血管炎症的关键特征。使用NOX 2敲除小鼠的研究已经证明了NOX 2的特定病理作用。他们还表明，NOX 2诱导的视网膜炎症涉及尿素循环酶的激活，并且骨髓来源的细胞和视网膜细胞都参与其中。升高的腺苷三磷酸酶活性通过减少其共同底物L-精氨酸的供应而引起eNOS解偶联。解偶联的eNOS产生超氧化物，其与可用的NO反应以形成过氧亚硝酸盐。NO减少减少蛋白质S-亚硝基化，而过氧亚硝酸盐诱导蛋白质酪氨酸硝化。这些翻译后修饰可以增强NADPH氧化酶和线粒体氧化酶的活性，并使关键的细胞抗氧化系统失活，这可以进一步增加ROS的形成。NOS解偶联也与糖尿病诱导的骨髓来源的内皮祖细胞功能障碍有关。总体假设是，糖尿病诱导的高血糖症通过激活骨髓源性细胞和视网膜细胞中的NOX 2（其激活NOS酶）启动氧化应激循环，引起NOS解偶联，进一步增加ROS形成并导致慢性炎症和血管损伤。所提出的实验将通过实现以下目标来测试和开发该模型：1）确定NOX 2诱导的NOS表达在糖尿病诱导的炎症反应和BM衍生细胞功能障碍中引起NOS解偶联的作用。2)测试过氧化氢酶是否通过增加NADPH和线粒体氧化酶的活性并通过NOS解偶联使关键的线粒体抗氧化剂失活来放大视网膜细胞中的ROS形成。3)确定并比较阻断腺苷酸酶在预防BM衍生细胞和视网膜细胞的ROS失调、炎症反应和功能障碍中的作用，以及设计用于释放NO以及消除超氧化物和羟基自由基并分解过氧亚硝酸盐的新型药物的作用

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long term goal of this research is to delineate the molecular mechanisms that lead to diabetic retinopathy and identify novel strategies to prevent or reverse the vascular damage. The proposed research seeks to identify cellular and molecular sources of dysregulated ROS, define their specific role in damaging the retinal vessels and evaluate potential therapies for blocking/reversing the injury. The investigators have shown that activation of the superoxide generating NADPH oxidase enzyme NOX2 is a key feature of vascular inflammation during diabetes and other diseases characterized by retinal inflammatory injury. Studies using NOX2-knockout mice have demonstrated the specific pathological role of NOX2. They also have shown that the NOX2-induced retinal inflammation involves activation of the urea cycle enzyme arginase and that both bone marrow-derived and retinal cells are involved. Elevated arginase activity causes eNOS uncoupling by reducing the supply of their common substrate L-arginine. Uncoupled eNOS produces superoxide which reacts with available NO to form peroxynitrite. Decreases in NO reduce protein S-nitrosylation whereas peroxynitrite induces protein tyrosine nitration. These post-translational modifications can enhance the activity of NADPH oxidase and mitochondrial oxidases and deactivate key cellular anti-oxidant systems, which can further increase ROS formation. NOS uncoupling has also been associated with diabetes-induced dysfunction of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells. The global hypothesis is that diabetes-induced hyperglycemia initiates a cycle of oxidative stress by activating NOX2 in bone marrow-derived and retinal cells which activates arginase, causing uncoupling of NOS, further increasing ROS formation and resulting in chronic inflammation and vascular injury. The proposed experiments will test and develop this model by accomplishing the following aims: 1) Determine the role of NOX2-induced arginase expression in causing NOS uncoupling in diabetes-induced inflammatory reactions and dysfunction of BM-derived cells. 2) Test whether arginase amplifies ROS formation in retinal cells by increasing activities of NADPH and mitochondrial oxidases and deactivating key mitochondrial anti-oxidants via NOS uncoupling. 3) Determine and compare the effects of arginase blockade in preventing dysregulated ROS, inflammatory reactions and dysfunction of BM-derived and retinal cells with those of novel agents designed to release NO as well as scavenge superoxide and hydroxyl radicals and decompose peroxynitrite