Effects of endothelin-1 on the cytoskeleton protein F-actin of human trabecular meshwork cells in vitro

Aim: To observe the effect of endothelin-1 (ET-1) on the cytoskeleton protein F-actin of cultured human trabecular meshwork (HTM) cells.

Methods: CULTURED HTM CELLS WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO FOUR GROUPS: control group, low-dose ET-1 (10(-9) mol/L) treatment group, middle-dose ET-1 (10(-8) mol/L) treatment group, and high-dose ET-1(10(-7) mol/L) treatment group. After treated with ET-1, the expression of cytoskeleton protein F-actin in trabecular meshwork was analyzed with Western-blot and the distribution of F-actin was detected with FITC-Phalloidin probe.

Results: ET-1 dose-dependently and significantly increased F-actin in trabecular meshwork cells (P<0.05). The F-actin stress fiber and periphery actin fiber highly increased and manifested mild reorganization after treated with ET-1; and there were much more cell-to-cell and cell-to-extracellular matrix attachments formation in ET-1 treated HTM cells than that in the untreated HTM cells.

Conclusion: ET-1 promotes the expression of cytoske- leton protein F-actin and induced the trabecular meshwork actin cytoskeleton reorganization.