Inhibition of NgR expression reduces apoptotic retinal ganglion cells in diabetes

Activation of Nogo receptor (NgR) is an essential factor of nerve regeneration inhibition, neuronal atrophy and even apoptosis. Upregulation of NgR expression is an important cause of cell apoptosis and visual extinction in some diseases including glaucoma. Whether ganglion cell apoptosis is related to NgR gene expression in diabetes mellitus remains poorly understood.

Dr. Xuezheng Liu and his team, Liaoning Medical University, China interfered NgR expression in the retinal ganglion cells of rats with diabetes mellitus and found that Rho kinase expression was obviously inhibited and retinal ganglion cell apoptosis was evidently reduced in rats with diabetes mellitus. These results indicate that upregulation of NgR expression is an important mechanism of retinal ganglion cell apoptosis in rats with diabetes mellitus, which is likely to be related to changes in Rho kinase expression in NgR downstream molecules.

Related results were published in Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 8, 2014).

More information:
Liu XZ, Zuo ZF, Liu WP, Wang ZY, Hou Y, Fu YJ, Han YZ. Upregulation of Nogo receptor expression induces apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells in diabetic rats. Neural Regen Res. 2014;9(8):815-820.

Provided by Neural Regeneration Research