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Master A, Kontzias A, Huang L, Huang W, Tsioulias A, Zarabi S, Wolek M, Wollocko BM, Honkanen R, Rigas B. The transcriptome of rabbit conjunctiva in dry eye disease: Large-scale changes and similarity to the human dry eye. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0254036. [PMID: 34324523 PMCID: PMC8321226 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The pathophysiology of dry eye disease (DED) remains largely unknown, accounting in part for the lack of successful treatments. We explored the pathophysiology of DED using a rabbit model of chronic DED induced with 3 weekly injections of Concanavalin A into the periorbital lacrimal glands. The transcriptome of full-thickness's conjunctival tissue from rabbits with DED and from normal controls was determined using microarrays and, as needed, confirmatory real-time polymerase chain reactions. Results were subjected to bioinformatic analysis. DED induced large-scale changes in gene transcription involving 5,184 genes (22% of the total). Differentially expressed genes could be segregated into: functional modules and clusters; altered pathways; functionally linked genes; and groups of individual genes of known or suspected pathophysiological relevance to DED. A common feature of these subgroups is the breadth and magnitude of the changes that encompass ocular immunology and essentially all aspects of cell biology. Prominent changes concerned innate and adaptive immune responses; ocular surface inflammation; at least 25 significantly altered signaling pathways; a large number of chemokines; cell cycle; and apoptosis. Comparison of our findings to the limited extant transcriptomic data from DED patients associated with either Sjogren's syndrome or non-Sjogren's etiologies revealed a significant correlation between human and rabbit DED transcriptomes. Our data, establishing the large-scale transcriptomic changes of DED and their potential similarity to the human, underscore the enormous complexity of DED; establish a robust animal model of DED; will help expand our understanding of its pathophysiology; and could guide the development of successful therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Master
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Apostolos Kontzias
- Department of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Liqun Huang
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
- Medicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Setauket, New York, United States of America
| | - Wei Huang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Anna Tsioulias
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Samaneh Zarabi
- Department of Pathology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Michael Wolek
- Renaissance Medical School, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Brian M. Wollocko
- Renaissance Medical School, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Robert Honkanen
- Department of Ophthalmology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Basil Rigas
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
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