Expression of the Proteins Ski and Akradia in the Retinal Tissue of Diabetic Rats

Abstract

The aim of this study was to observe the effects of Ski and Arkadia protein expression in the retina of diabetic rats, as well as to explore the relationships between Ski, Arkadia, and diabetic retinopathy (DR) to provide theoretical insights into its pathogenesis. Forty healthy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: the normal control group, and the DM (diabetes mellitus, DM) group. A DM rat model was established through a single intraperitoneal injection of 50 mg · kg–1 STZ. Ten rats in each group were sacrificed at the 8th and 12th weeks after model generation; the left eyeball of each rat was removed completely and made into eye cups. Immunohistochemical methods were used to detect the expression of Ski and Arkadia in the retina of each rat. In the normal control group, Ski was highly expressed, while Arkadia was either not expressed or weakly expressed. At weeks 8 and 12, the expression of Arkadia in the retina of the rats in the DM group was significantly higher than in those of the normal control group (P <0.01), whereas the expression of Ski was significantly lower than in normal controls (P <0.01). In retinal tissue of diabetic rats, the ubiquitin proteasome pathway can degrade the expression of the Ski protein and the E3 ligase Arkadia is involved in the ubiquitination of Ski proteins.