Charakterisierung von Proteinkomplexen des Tetraspanins CD9 mit Bedeutung für die Migration mikrovaskulärer retinaler Endothelzellen

Abstract

Members of the tetraspanin protein family are modulators of several fundamental cellular processes like proliferation, adhesion and migration in various cell types. These cellular processes are deregulated in microvascular retinal endothelial cells in diabetic retinopathy (DR). However, expression and function of these proteins have not been studied in microvascular endothelial cells despite their (patho-)physiological importance. Western blotting, FACS or RT-PCR analyses confirmed that CD9 and other tetraspanins are expressed in immortalized microvasular endothelial cells of the bovine retina. In addition, association of CD9 with metalloproteases, protein kinase C (PKC) and integrins have been described for several cell types and these proteins might play a role in the development of DR. To elucidate the significance of these interactions for retinal diseases, these putative protein complexes were studied in iBREC.