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Research Paper|Volume 12, Issue 14|pp 13905—13923

Activation of C-reactive protein proinflammatory phenotype in the blood retinal barrier in vitro: implications for age-related macular degeneration

Sara Romero-Vázquez1, Alfredo Adán1, Marc Figueras-Roca1, Victor Llorenç1, Mark Slevin2, Gemma Vilahur3, Lina Badimon3, Andrew D Dick4,5, Blanca Molins1
  • 1Group of Ocular Inflammation, Clinical and Experimental Studies, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques Agustí Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  • 2Department of Life Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
  • 3Cardiovascular Research Center-ICCC, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, IIB-Sant Pau, CiberCV, Institute Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain
  • 4Academic Unit of Ophthalmology, School of Clinical Sciences and School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
  • 5National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK
Received: April 9, 2020Accepted: June 20, 2020Published: July 16, 2020
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103655

Copyright: © 2020 Romero-Vázquez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is considered one of the main targets of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of irreversible vision loss among the ageing population worldwide. Persistent low grade inflammation and oxidative stress eventually lead to RPE dysfunction and disruption of the outer blood-retinal barrier (oBRB). Increased levels of circulating pentameric C-reactive protein (pCRP) are associated with higher risk of AMD. The monomeric form (mCRP) has been detected in drusen, the hallmark deposits associated with AMD, and we have found that mCRP induces oBRB disruption. However, it is unknown how mCRP is generated in the subretinal space. Using a Transwell model we found that both pCRP and mCRP can cross choroidal endothelial cells and reach the RPE in vitro and that mCRP, but not pCRP, is able to cross the RPE monolayer in ARPE-19 cells. Alternatively, mCRP can originate from the dissociation of pCRP in the surface of lipopolysaccharide-damaged RPE in both ARPE-19 and primary porcine RPE lines. In addition, we found that the proinflammatory phenotype of mCRP in the RPE depends on its topological localization. Together, our findings further support mCRP contribution to AMD progression enhancing oBRB disruption.