Evidence of Mitophagy in Lens Capsule Epithelial Cells of Patients With Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome.

PRÉCIS: Alterations in the PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK)-mediated mitophagy pathway play an important role in pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX) disease.

PURPOSE: PEX is a condition in which aberrant fibrillary protein builds up in various components of the eye and other extraocular tissues. In this study, we aim to investigate the functionality of intracellular auto-degradative machinery-especially mitophagy-and related genes and proteins in PEX.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Anterior lens capsules were obtained from cataract patients with and without PEX to constitute the PEX group and age-matched controls during microincision cataract surgery. PINK1-mediated mitophagy markers were evaluated on the transcriptional and translational level via reverse transcriptionquantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry analysis, respectively.

RESULTS

The lens epithelial cells of PEX patients were characterized by significantly higher PINK1 gene expression compared with that of the controls ( P <0.05). In terms of intensity of staining of expressed proteins, PINK1 ( P <0.05), Parkin ( P <0.01), and microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 B ( P <0.01) were all statistically higher in PEX, compared with the controls.

CONCLUSION

Altered auto-degradative response-specifically mitophagy-is a component of increased oxidative stress in PEX patients. The role of this mechanism in emerging complications warrants further research.