Glucose Oxidase- and UVA-Induced Changes in the Expression Patterns of Seven De-sumoylation Enzymes (SENPs) Are Associated with Cataract Development.

PURPOSE: It has been well established that sumoylation acts as an important regulatory mechanism that controls many different cellular processes. In the eye, we and others have shown that sumoylation plays an indispensable role during mouse eye development. Whether sumoylation is implicated in ocular pathogenesis remains to be further studied. In the present study, we have examined the expression patterns of the de-sumoylation enzymes (SENPs) in the in vitro cataract models induced by glucose oxidase and UVA irradiation.

METHODS: Four-week-old C57BL/6J mice were used in our experiment. Lenses were carefully dissected out from mouse eyes and cultured in M199 medium for 12 hours. Transparent lenses (without surgical damage) were selected for experimentation. The lenses were exposed to UVA for 60 min or treated with 20 mU/mL glucose oxidase (GO) to induce cataract formation. The mRNA levels were analyzed with qRT-PCR. The protein levels were determined with western blot analysis and quantitated with Image J.

RESULTS: GO treatment and UVA irradiation can induce cataract formation in lens cultured in vitro. GO treatment significantly down-regulated the mRNA levels for SENPs from 50% to 85%; on the other hand, expression of seven SENP proteins under GO treatment appeared in 3 situations: upregulation for SENP1, 2 and 6; downregulation for SENP 5 and 8; and unchanged for SENP3 and 7. UVA irradiation upregulates the mRNAs for all seven SENPs; In contrast to the mRNA levels for 7 SENPs, the expression levels for 6 SENPs (SENP1-3, 5-6 and 8) appeared down-regulated from 10% to 50%, only SENP7 was slightly upregulated.

CONCLUSION: Our results for the first time established the differentiation expression patterns of the 7 de-sumoylation enzymes (SENPs) under treratment by GO or UVA, which provides preliminary data to link sumoylation to stress-induced cataractogenesis.