Sensory and Motor Systems
Author: Paula Virginia Subirada Caldarone | email: psubirada@gmail.com
Paula Virginia Subirada 1°, Albana Tovo 2°, María Victoria Vaglienti 2°, Nicolás Ribotta 3°, José Domingo Luna Pinto 3°, Horacio Uri Saragovi 4°, María Cecilia Sánchez 2°, Agustín Anastasía 1°5°, Pablo Federico Barcelona 2°
1° Instituto Ferreyra, INIMEC-CONICET-UNC. Córdoba, Argentina
2° Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, CIBICI-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Córdoba, Argentina.
3° Centro Privado de Ojos Romagosa. Fundación VER. Córdoba, Argentina.
4° Lady Davis Research Institute, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Center for Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
5°Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Biomédicas de Córdoba (IUCBC), Córdoba, Argentina.
With the advent of old age, pathologies that drive to a decline in the retinal function appear. Particularly in the wet age-related macular degeneration, the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) cells are known to diminish their trophic support to photoreceptors. Moreover, mononuclear phagocytic cells (MPCs) accumulate in the subretinal space, leading to an inflammatory chronic state that promote choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and further photoreceptor degeneration. The mechanisms by which MPCs participate in the development of the vascular growth associated to this pathology remain cryptic. The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) has been extensively involved in vascular changes. Here, we inquire if p75NTR has a role in the recruitment of MPCs to the injured area in a mouse model of laser-induced CNV. Western blot assay showed increased p75NTR expression in RPE-Choroids 4 days after laser. Confocal images of RPE-choroid wholemounts of CNV mice evidenced the presence of p75NTR in MPCs (F4/80+). Interestingly, flow cytometry analysis revealed a reduction of MPCs in the RPE-Choroids and retinas of p75NTR KO mice, respect to WT mice. Pharmacological inhibition of p75NTR in vivo also exhibited a reduction in the number of MPCs in RPE-Choroids and retinas, confirming that p75NTR is involved in MPCs recruitment. Our research contributes to understand the mechanisms of wet age-related macular degeneration.