Journal
OPHTHALMIC RESEARCH
Volume 51, Issue 2, Pages 59-66Publisher
KARGER
DOI: 10.1159/000351624
Keywords
Age-related macular degeneration; Factor H; Interleukin; In situ hybridization; Retinal cell culture; Retinal pigment epithelium
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Funding
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research 'BIOMAT' of the RWTH Aachen University Faculty of Medicine [TV-B109]
- START program of the RWTH Aachen University Faculty of Medicine
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [DFG SK46]
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Background: A common haplotype in the gene for the regulator of the alternative pathway of complement activation factor H has been linked to individual predisposition to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: In this study, retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, i.e. immortalized ARPE-19 as well as primary human RPE cells, were investigated for expression of factor H and FHL-1 by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization analysis. Results: Factor H and the alternative spliced product FHL-1 are expressed in RPE cells, i.e. in immortalized ARPE-19 and primary human RPE cells. Factor H and FHL-1 expression was induced in a dose-dependent manner in ARPE-19 cells upon treatment with the inflammatory marker interleukin-6 (IL-6). In situ hybridization experiments confirmed an elevated expression rate of the factor H gene in IL-6-treated ARPE-19 cells. AMD is characterized by complement-associated inflammatory processes in the retina. Thus, local synthesis of complement regulators affects the protection of retinal cells and may be involved in the pathogenesis at the RPE-choroid interface. (C) 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel
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