Interleukin-4 blocks thapsigargin-induced cell death in rat rod photoreceptors: Involvement of cAMP/PKA pathway
✍ Scribed by Juliana Adão-Novaes; Céulem de Cássia Belem Guterres; Ana Gabriela Ledo Santos da Silva; Paula Campello-Costa; Rafael Linden; Alfred Sholl-Franco
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2009
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 446 KB
- Volume
- 87
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0360-4012
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Although the photoreceptors cell death is the main cause of some retinopathies diseases, the mechanisms involved in this process are poorly understood. The neuroprotective effects of interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) have been shown in several tissues, including retina. We demonstrate that treatment of rat retinal explants with IL‐4 completely inhibited the thapsigargin‐induced rod photoreceptor cell death after 24 hr in culture. We also showed that IL‐4 receptor α subunit (IL‐4Rα) is abundantly present in retina. Colocalization of IL‐4Rα and rhodopsin indicate a direct effect of this cytokine in rod photoreceptor cells. Moreover, IL‐4 increased the intracellular levels of cAMP in 7.4‐fold, indicating that the neuroprotective effect of this cytokine was completely blocked by RpcAMP, an inhibitor of protein kinase (PKA). Our data demonstrate, for the first time, the neuroprotective effect of IL‐4 through cAMP/PKA pathway in thapsigargin‐induced photoreceptor cell death. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.