Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2022, Vol. 17 ›› Issue (7): 1604-1608.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.330614

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Osteopontin is a biomarker for early autoimmune uveoretinitis

Jeongtae Kim1, Meejung Ahn2, Yuna Choi3, Jiyoon Chun3, Kyungsook Jung4, Akane Tanaka5, Hiroshi Matsuda5, Taekyun Shin3, *   

  1. 1Department of Anatomy, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan, Republic of Korea; 2Department of Animal Science, College of Life Science, Sangji University, Wonju, Republic of Korea; 3Department of Veterinary Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Medical Research Institute, Jeju National University, Jeju, Republic of Korea; 4Functional Biomaterials Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea; 5Laboratory of Comparative Animal Medicine, Division of Animal Life Science, Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan
  • Online:2022-07-15 Published:2022-01-18
  • Contact: Taekyun Shin, DVM, PhD, shint@jejunu.ac.kr.
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea, No. NRF-2019R1A2C1087753 (to TS).

PDF

63

Abstract: Osteopontin (OPN) is an extracellular matrix protein with a diverse range of functions, including roles in cell adhesion, migration, and immunomodulation, which are associated with the modulation of neuroinflammation in the central nervous system. The present study was performed to evaluate the involvement of OPN in the eyes of an experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) model. The EAU model was developed by immunization of Lewis rats with interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein. The results showed the OPN level was remarkably upregulated in the eye of EAU rats on day 9 post-immunization. The level of CD44, a ligand of OPN, was increased in the ciliary body of EAU rats. Furthermore, OPN was also detected in the ciliary body and activated microglia/macrophages in the EAU retina. The results suggest that OPN was significantly upregulated in the eyes of EAU rats, and that it may be useful as an early biomarker of ocular autoimmune diseases. All animal experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Jeju National University (approval No. 2020-0012) on March 11, 2020.

Key words: CD44, ciliary body, experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis, macrophage, Müller cell, osteopontin, photoreceptor cell, retina