J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  1998 Aug;39(8):1808-1815.

Effects of TGFbeta on RPE-mediated Vitreous Gel Contraction

• Lee SC
• Kim KW

Abstract

Proliferative vitreoretinal disorders are characterized by an intravitreal and periretinal migration of RPE(retinal pigment epithelial) cells that form a scar-like contractile connective tissue. It has been reported that TGF(transforming growth factor)beta is a key cytokine that initiates and terminates tissue repair and whose sustained production underlies the development of tissue fibrosis.In the current study, we investigated the effects of TGFbeta on RPE-mediated vitreous gel contraction. TGFbetaeffecs on DNA synthesis in RPE cells were assessed by 3H-thymidine incorporation. The contraction of vitreous gel by TGFbeta treated RPE cells were evaluated by the decrease of gel weight. TGFbeta inhibited the proliferation of RPE cells. Once RPE cells were placed onto vitreous, they changed their morphology and became fibroblast-like cells. When RPE cells were incubated with TGFbeta1 and TGFbeta2, the vitreous contractin effect of RPE cells was enhanced significantly. This study suggests that TGFbeta1 and TGFbeta2 enhance the scar contraction. But TGFbeta3 may have the anti-scar contraction effect.

Keyword

Gel contraction; Retinal pigment epithelium; TGFbeta

MeSH Terms

Cicatrix
Connective Tissue
DNA
Retinal Pigment Epithelium
Transforming Growth Factor beta*
DNA
Transforming Growth Factor beta