Elucidation of the Pathogenic Mechanism of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment with Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy by Proteomic Analysis

PURPOSE: To understand the molecular mechanisms of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) with proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), the vitreous proteome in RRD patients with severe PVR (grade C or D) was investigated. METHODS: The analysis of the vitreous proteome in RRD patients with PVR (n = 24) and donor samples (n = 8) was analyzed by one-dimensional (1D) SDS-PAGE and reverse-phase liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (RP-LC-MS/MS). The data were analyzed using GeneGO MetaCore software. The research followed the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki for the use of human subjects. RESULTS: In total, 516 and 364 proteins were identified in the vitreous of RRD patients with PVR and donor samples, including 48 overlapping proteins. In the PVR vitreous samples, the levels of extracellular (EC) proteins were increased and the levels of cytoskeleton proteins were decreased. In the pathologic process of PVR, inflammation was identified as an important GeneGo network. Furthermore, the complement and coagulation cascade was the essential pathway. Among the interaction network, the key node proteins in this network were p53 and transcription factor E2F1, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: 1D-SDS-PAGE coupled with RP-LC-MS/MS is a valuable resource to aid in the characterization of the proteome of RRD patients with PVR. Inflammation is the important pathologic process of PVR, while complement and coagulation cascade was the crucial pathway. p53 and E2F1 may be the new targets for successful treatment of RRD with PVR.