Abstract
Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the differentially expressed proteins in the vitreous humor (VH) of eyes with and without pathologic myopia (PM).
Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational study. Patients with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM), macular holes (MH), or myopic retinoschisis (MRS) who underwent vitrectomy provided VH samples. The differentially expressed proteins were identified using a label-free quantitative proteomic analysis, and the expression of three of the differentially expressed proteins was validated using ELISA.
Results: The expression of tubulin alpha 1A (TUBA1A) and eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1 alpha 1 (EEF1A1) was substantially greater in the PM group (MH-PM, MRS-PM) than in the control group (MH, ERM), although xylosyltransferase 1 (XYLT1) was significantly less expressed. While XYLT1 concentrations were lower in PM patients than in controls, EEF1A1 and TUBA1A concentrations in the vitreous were greater in PM patients.
Conclusions: Our research offers novel insights into the molecular alterations in PM patients' VH, EEF1A1, TUBA1A, and XYLT1 might be important for chorioretinal cell apoptosis, scleral extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis, and scleral remodeling as well as potential new targets for PM treatment.