Mouse Anti-Mouse Thy1 Hybridoma [IP-24-5]

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of EPO on the apoptosis induced by high levels of glucose in retinal ganglial cells (RGCs). High glucose-induced apoptosis model was established in RGCs isolated from SD rats (1-3 days old) and identified with Thy1.1 mAb and MAP-2 pAb. The apoptosis was determined by Hochest assay. The levels of ROS were quantitated by staining the cells with dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) and measure by flow cytometry. The SOD, GSH-Px, CAT activities, and levels of T-AOC and MDA were determined by ELISA. Change in mitochondrial membrane potential (Delta psi m) was also assessed by flow cytometry, and expressions of Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3, caspase-9, and cytochrome C were assessed by western blotting. The RGCs treated with high glucose levels exhibited significantly increased apoptotic rate and concentrations of ROS and MDA. Pretreatment of the cells with EPO caused a significant blockade of the high glucose-induced increase in ROS and MDA levels and apoptotic rate. EPO also increased the activities of SOD, GSH-Px, and CAT, and recovered the levels of T-AOC levels. As a consequence, the mitochondrial membrane potential was improved and Cyt c release into the cytoplasm was prevented which led to significantly suppressed up-regulation of Bax reducing the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. The expressions of caspase-3 and caspase-9 induced by high glucose exposure were also ameliorated in the RGCs treated with EPO. The protective effect of EPO against apoptosis was mediated through its antioxidant action. Thus, it blocked the generation of pro-apoptotic proteins and apoptotic degeneration of the RGCs by preventing the mitochondrial damage.

Rationale: Mutations in desmosome proteins cause arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (AC), a disease characterized by excess myocardial fibroadipocytes. Cellular origin(s) of fibroadipocytes in AC is unknown. Objective: To identify the cellular origin of adipocytes in AC. Methods and Results: Human and mouse cardiac cells were depleted from myocytes and flow sorted to isolate cells expressing platelet-derived growth factor receptor-a and exclude those expressing other lineage and fibroblast markers (CD32, CD11B, CD45, Lys76, Ly(-6c) and Ly(6c), thymocyte differentiation antigen 1, and discoidin domain receptor 2). The PDGFRA(pos): Lin(neg): THY1(neg): DDR2(neg) cells were bipotential as the majority expressed collagen 1 alpha-1, a fibroblast marker, and a subset CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein a, a major adipogenic transcription factor, and therefore, they were referred to as fibroadipocyte progenitors (FAPs). FAPs expressed desmosome proteins, including desmoplakin, predominantly in the adipogenic but not fibrogenic subsets. Conditional heterozygous deletion of Dsp in mice using Pdgfra-Cre deleter led to increased fibroadipogenesis in the heart and mild cardiac dysfunction. Genetic fate mapping tagged 41.4 +/- 4.1% of the cardiac adipocytes in the Pdgfra-Cre:Eyfp:Dsp(W/F) mice, indicating an origin from FAPs. FAPs isolated from the Pdgfra-Cre: Eyfp:Dsp(W/F) mouse hearts showed enhanced differentiation to adipocytes. Mechanistically, deletion of Dsp was associated with suppressed canonical Wnt signaling and enhanced adipogenesis. In contrast, activation of the canonical Wnt signaling rescued adipogenesis in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions: A subset of cardiac FAPs, identified by the PDGFRA(pos):Lin(neg):THY1(neg):DDR2(neg) signature, expresses desmosome proteins and differentiates to adipocytes in AC through a Wnt-dependent mechanism. The findings expand the cellular spectrum of AC, commonly recognized as a disease of cardiac myocytes, to include nonmyocyte cells in the heart.