Resilience to diabetic retinopathy.

Chronic elevation of blood glucose at first causes relatively minor changes to the neural and vascular components of the retina. As the duration of hyperglycemia persists, the nature and extent of damage increases and becomes readily detectable. While this second, overt manifestation of diabetic retinopathy (DR) has been studied extensively, what prevents maximal damage from the very start of hyperglycemia remains largely unexplored.

Hyperglycemia Promotes Mitophagy and Thereby Mitigates Hyperglycemia-Induced Damage.

The observation that diabetic retinopathy (DR) typically takes decades to develop suggests the existence of an endogenous system that protects from diabetes-induced damage. To investigate the existance of such a system, primary human retinal endothelial cells were cultured in either normal glucose (5 mmol/L) or high glucose (30 mmol/L; HG). Prolonged exposure to HG was beneficial instead of detrimental.

On the Relationship Between EB-3 Profiles and Microtubules Growth in Cultured Cells.

Microtubules are dynamic structures undergoing rapid growth and shrinkage in living cells and . The growth of microtubules was analyzed with subpixel precision (Maurer et al., Current Biology, 2014, 24 (4), 372-384); however, to what extent these results could be applied for microtubules growing remains largely unknown.

The Role of the Wnt Pathway in VEGF/Anti-VEGF-Dependent Control of the Endothelial Cell Barrier.

Purpose: Investigate the contribution of the Wnt pathway to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/anti-VEGF-mediated control of endothelial cell permeability.

Methods: High glucose-treated primary human retinal endothelial cells (HRECs) were exposed to either VEGF, or VEGF and then anti-VEGF. Changes in gene expression were assayed by RNAseq and qRT-PCR.

Analysis of Microtubule Dynamics Heterogeneity in Cell Culture.

Microtubules (MTs) are dynamic components of the cytoskeleton playing an important role in a large number of cell functions. Individual MTs in living cells undergo stochastic switching between alternate states of growth, shortening and attenuated phase, a phenomenon known as tempered dynamic instability. Dynamic instability of MTs is usually analyzed by labeling MTs with +TIPs, namely, EB proteins.