Gene profiles and mutations in the development of cataracts in the ICR rat model of hereditary cataracts

Abstract

Cataracts are opacifications of the lens that cause loss of visual acuity and ultimately of eyesight. Age-related cataract develops in most elderly people, but the mechanisms of cataract onset are incompletely understood. The Ihara Cataract Rat (ICR) is an animal model of hereditary cataracts showing cortical opacity that commonly develops prematurely. We identified putative mechanisms of cataract onset in the ICR rat model by measuring gene expression changes before and after cortical cataract development and conducting point mutation analysis. Genes differentially expressed between 4-week-old animals without cortical cataracts and 8–10-week-old animals with cortical cataracts were selected from microarray analysis. Three connections were identified by STRING analysis: (i) Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), including Col1a2, and Pik3r1. (ii) Lens homeostasis, including Aqp5, and Cpm. (iii) Lipid metabolism, including Scd1, Srebf1, and Pnpla3. Subsequently, mutation points were selected by comparing ICR rats with 12 different rats that do not develop cataracts. The apolipoprotein Apoc3 was mutated in ICR rats. Analyses of gene expression changes and point and mutations suggested that abnormalities in EMT or lipid metabolism could contribute to cataract development in ICR rats.

Glutamate is effective in decreasing opacity formed in galactose-induced cataract model

“…Microarray analysis was performed using control samples cultured for 4 or 6 days (n = 2), cataract samples cultured in galactose medium for 6 days (n = 3) and treated samples with glutamate addition (n = 2). A GeneChip Rat Gene 2.0 ST array chip (Thermo Fisher Scientific) was used to perform microarray experiments as described previously 72 . First, data from all samples were normalized with the Robust Multi-array Average algorithm to exclude probes that did not correspond to genes.…”