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1 From the Institute of Molecular Biology, The University of Hong Kong, China; the 2 Department of Cell Biology, Baylor University, Houston, Texas; and the 3 Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of North Texas, Health Science Center, Fort Worth.
| Abstract |
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METHODS. Transgenic mouse lines carrying the bovine Na+-dependent
myo-inositol transporter (bSMIT) cDNA under the control of the mouse
A-crystallin promoter were generated.
RESULTS. Increased bSMIT expression was accompanied by increased myo-inositol level in the lens and increased uptake of (3H) myo-inositol by the lens in culture. The transgenic mice developed observable cataract under normal rearing conditions beginning at 2 to 8 weeks of age, and the severity of cataract development was correlated to the level of bSMIT gene expression and lens myo-inositol accumulation. For transgenic mouse line 3352, heterozygous mice did not develop cataract, whereas homozygous ones did. Prenatal feeding of heterozygous 3352 mice with high myo-inositol diet led to cataract development, indicating that cataract development was not merely due to a nonspecific effect of SMIT overexpression. Introducing aldose reductase overexpressing transgene into heterozygous 3352 mice also led to cataract development, indicating that this type of cataract is primarily due to osmotic stress.
CONCLUSIONS. The present results indicate that high levels of myo-inositol and sorbitol in the lens contribute to cataract development. This is a useful model to study the role of osmotic stress in cataractogenesis during lens development.
| Introduction |
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Osmotic stress due to the accumulation of sorbitol in the lens is most likely the cause of diabetic cataract. This is based on the fact that sorbitol accumulates to high levels in the lenses of diabetic animals2 3 and that the administration of an inhibitor to aldose reductase (AR), the enzyme that reduces glucose to sorbitol, prevents the formation of diabetic cataracts.4 5 Lenses cultured in high glucose medium also developed opacity as in diabetic cataract.6 Development of lens opacity in vitro can be prevented by AR inhibitors or if the medium is made hypertonic to balance the increased sorbitol accumulation in the lens, indicating that osmotic stress is the cause of diabetic cataract.7 8 Further support of this model is provided by the fact that mice, which normally do not develop diabetic cataract, became susceptible to development of this type of cataract when their lens AR level was increased and that the rate of cataract development was accelerated when sorbitol dehydrogenasedeficient mutation was introduced into these mice to block the conversion of sorbitol to fructose.9
To determine whether cataract caused by sorbitol accumulation is a consequence of osmotic stress rather than the toxic effect of sorbitol, we wanted to increase the lens myo-inositol (MI) level to see if that also causes cataract. Myo-inositol is one of the three major osmolytes in the lens besides sorbitol and taurine.10 Influx of MI into lens is dependent on the Na+-dependent MI transporter (SMIT).11 In this study, we produced transgenic mice that overexpress SMIT constitutively in lens cells and found that they developed congenital cataract under normal rearing condition beginning at 2 to 8 weeks of age. These results provide strong evidence that a high level of osmolytes in the lens is the main factor contributing to osmotic cataract.
| Methods |
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Acry-bSMIT hybrid gene (3.7 kb)
was released from the vector by NotI digestions and
microinjected into oocytes from CBA egg donors fertilized by
C57BL males. Identification of transgenic mice was performed by
polymerase chain reaction on genomic DNA extracted from the tail and
then confirmed by Southern blot hybridization using SV40 polyA fragment
as probe (data not shown). All animals in this study were treated in
accordance with the ARVO Statement for the Use of Animals in Ophthalmic
and Vision Research.
RNA Isolation and Northern Blot Analysis
Poly(A)+ RNA was prepared from brain, heart,
kidney, lens, liver, and muscle of 2-week-old bSMIT transgenic mice and
normal C57BL mice with oligo (dT) columns (Qiagen, Hilden,
Germany). Three micrograms of mRNA was separated on a 1.5%
agarose gel containing 3% formaldehyde and blotted onto a Hybond
N+ membrane according to the manufacturers
protocol. Probes were labeled with 32P-dCTP with
random priming, using a commercially available kit (Amersham,
Buckinghamshire, England). A 1.8-kb bSMIT cDNA fragment released from
EcoRI and PstI digest of
Acry-bSMIT was used
to hybridize specific transgene expression, and GADPH cDNA probe was
used as control.
In Situ Hybridization
Embryos, 15.5 (E15.5) and 17.5 (E17.5) days old, and adult mice
from transgenic line 3388 and normal C57 were killed, and their
eyeballs isolated for cryosectioning. Cryostated sections (10-µm
thick) were mounted on siliconized slides. The slides were fixed in 4%
paraformaldehyde in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) and then dehydrated
in increasing concentrations of ethanol. A 1.0-kb segment of bSMIT
cDNA, released by EcoRI and SphI digest and
subcloned into pBluescript II SK (+) vector, was used as hybridization
probe. Sense and antisense riboprobes were generated with T7 and T3 RNA
polymerase, respectively, in the presence of
35S-CTP (Amersham). In situ hybridization to
mouse eyeball sections was performed as previously
described.12
Assay of SMIT Activity
Mouse lens Na+-dependent MI uptake was
measured essentially as described previously with slight
modifications.13
14
Lenses from 4-week-old transgenic mice
and nontransgenic mice were isolated and cultured in Medium 199 (GIBCO,
Gaithersburg, MD) for 24 hours. Lenses that remained clear were then
switched to an incubation solution consisting of basic M199, 10 µm
MI, and 0.5 µCi/ml (3H)myo-inositol (Amersham).
After 4 hours incubation, lenses were removed, washed 2 times in
saline, gently blotted, and transferred to a scintillation vial
containing 0.2 ml of 2.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate solution and kept
overnight at 50°C to dissolve the lens. Then 3 ml of scintillation
fluid was added, and the contents of the vials were counted in a liquid
scintillation counter (model LS 6800; Beckman, Los Angeles,
CA). In addition, 2 sets of standards were prepared using 10 µl
aliquots of the incubation medium A and B containing
3H to determine the specific activity (counts per
minute per nanomole of MI) of the incubation medium. Myo-inositol
uptake was calculated as nanomoles per lens per hour from the specific
activity of the incubation solution and 3H counts
of sample. In parallel experiments, 1 mM ouabain was added to the
medium to measure incorporation of MI in the absence of ATPase.
Measurement of MI Level in Mouse Lenses
Myo-inositol levels in mouse lenses were determined by
high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).15
Mice were
killed by cervical dislocation, and lenses were quickly removed and
frozen in liquid nitrogen. They were stored at -80°C until
processed. After weighing, each pair of lenses was homogenized in 1 ml
of 5% trichloroacetic acid (TCA), and the slurry was centrifuged at
14000g for 10 minutes. The supernatant was saved, and TCA
was removed by fourfold extraction with diethyl ether. The resultant
solution was subsequently concentrated to remove the ether and
lyophilized. The dried sample powder was reconstituted in 500 µl of
filtered dH2O, and 50 µl of 0.25 M
trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N,N',N'-tetra-acetic acid (CDTA) was
added to remove metal ions. After deionization with an anion/cation
exchange resin (BioRad, Hercules, CA), the extracts were
filtered through a 0.45-µm polysulphon cartridge filter (Alltech,
Deerfield, IL) before injection into the HPLC system. A 5.5 µl
aliquot of a 1 mM xylitiol was added as an internal standard. The
concentrations of MI were determined by a DX500 HPLC system (Dionex,
Sunnyvale, CA) using a Carbopac (MA-1) anion exchange column (Dionex)
with isocratic elution by 420 mM NaOH. The peak areas were normalized
to xylitol, and concentrations were quantified against known standard
curves run on the same day.
Monitoring Cataract
Mouse pupil was dilated with 1% tropicamide (Alcon, Puurs,
Belgium), and the lenses were monitored with a slit-lamp microscope and
recorded by photography.
High MI Diet
A 3% MI (wt/wt) was added to standard mouse chow.16
After mating with a line 3352 homozygous male, C57BL female mice were
divided into three groups: group 1, immediately started feeding with
3% MI diet after mating and continued after birth; group 2, started
3% MI diet after giving birth; and group 3, immediately started
feeding with 3% MI diet after mating and stopped after birth. The
cataracts of transgenic and nontransgenic offspring in each group were
checked weekly from 2 to 10 weeks of age. Four 4-week-old heterozygous
pups from each group were killed for lens MI quantitation by HPLC.
Crossing of bSMIT Transgenic Mice with hAR Transgenic Mice
Mice homozygous for bSMIT transgene (bSMIT +/+) from line 3352
were mated with homozygous hAR transgenic mice (hAR +/+) line
CAR2229
to introduce AR overexpressing transgene
into line 3352 mice. These double heterozygous transgenic offspring
were monitored for cataract development weekly from 2 to 10 weeks of
age. Six of them were killed at 4 weeks of age, and their lens MI and
sorbitol levels were determined by HPLC.
| Results |
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A-crystallin promoter that directs the expression of
heterologous gene in the mouse lens, generating the plasmid
Acry-bSMIT. The fragment containing crystallin promoterbSMIT
hybrid gene was released from
Acry-bSMIT and injected into mouse
oocytes. The oocytes were then allowed to develop to term in foster
mothers. Five transgenic lines were developed, and two of them, lines
3352 and 3388, were characterized in greater detail, and they were also
bred to homozygous state to double the level of expression of their
transgenes. Northern blot analysis hybridization showed that bSMIT
transgene is only expressed in the lens and not in other tissues such
as brain, heart, liver, kidney, and skeletal muscle of the transgenic
mice (Fig. 1)
. The transgene expression level was higher in line 3388 than in line
3352. In situ hybridization results showed that bSMIT mRNA was detected
in the nuclear and cortical regions of the lens at E15.5 stage (15.5
days postcoital), but at E17.5 expression was restricted to the fiber
cells at the bow region (Fig. 2)
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| Discussion |
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During the preparation of this manuscript, results similar to ours were
reported.19
However, our experiments provide further
insight on the pathogenesis of this type of cataract. Heterozygous 3352
mice overexpress SMIT but not to a level high enough to cause cataract.
We showed that prenatal feeding of 3352 mice with 3% MI diet led to
congenital cataract, whereas postnatal feeding has no effect. This
convincingly shows that cataract in these transgenic mice is caused by
excess MI and not by some anomalous effect of too much protein in the
lens. This result also indicates that the developing lens is more
sensitive to osmotic stress. It is likely that in the early stages of
lens development, the osmoregulatory machinery in the lens is not fully
operative, and consequently it cannot accommodate a modest increase in
osmolyte content. When the lens is matured, its osmoregulatory
machinery can accommodate a modest fluctuation in osmolyte levels. Why,
then, do mice overexpressing AR in their lenses not develop congenital
cataract and only develop cataract when they are made diabetic or fed
with high galactose diet? This may be due to the fact that AR is not
very efficient in reducing glucose to sorbitol. The
Km of AR for glucose is estimated to
be
30 to 100 mM.20
21
Thus, only under hyperglycemic
conditions is AR able to convert significant amounts of glucose to
sorbitol to cause osmotic stress. It will be interesting to see whether
a pregnant female mouse overexpressing AR is made diabetic, and whether
or not the pups will develop congenital cataract.
The level of MI in the lenses of normal mice is approximately 4.2 nmol/mg wet wt. In the SMIT transgenic mice, lenses that accumulated up to 9.2 nmol/mg wet wt of MI did not develop cataract, whereas those with 11.8 nmol/mg wet wt of MI did. This indicates that the lens can accommodate up to twice as much as the normal level of MI without any deleterious effect, but not much beyond that level. Therefore, when the CAR222 AR transgene was incorporated into the 3352 SMIT transgenic mice, the AR-bSMIT double transgenic offspring developed congenital cataract even though individually these transgenes do not cause cataract development. This clearly indicates that it is the osmotic stress that causes cataract, not the toxic effect of MI or sorbitol. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that excess MI in the developing lens may sensitize the lens cells to osmotic stress because of perturbation of the phosphoinositide signal transduction systems. It is interesting to note that the total osmolyte (sorbitol and MI) level in the lenses of 4-week-old AR-bSMIT double transgenic mice is similar to that of 4-week-old bSMIT transgenic mice. In the lenses of the double transgenic mice, the MI level is reduced to compensate for the increase in sorbitol level, suggesting that in these matured lenses the total osmolyte level is maintained to an appropriate level by the lens osmoregulatory machinery.
The SMIT gene is located in chromosome 21 in the region essential for the development of Down syndrome (DS).22 Down syndrome patients, who have an extra copy of chromosome 21, often develop congenital cataract.23 Osmotic stress caused by overexpression of SMIT as demonstrated in this report could explain the high incidence of congenital cataract in these patients. However, the morphology of the cataract in DS patients is quite different from that of transgenic mice overexpressing SMIT, suggesting that different mechanisms may be involved. Cataract in DS patients is characterized by localized opacity in the cortical region,24 25 not the nuclear cataract observed in SMIT transgenic mice. It is possible that these morphologic differences are the consequences of subtle differences in lens development between the mouse and humans, or resulting from differences in temporal and spatial expressions between the endogenous SMIT gene and the SMIT transgene. Although SMIT activity from the expression of endogenous gene is found in lens epithelial cells, SMIT transgene is primarily expressed in the fiber cells. Clearly, further experiments are necessary to determine whether overexpression of SMIT contributes to cataract development in DS patients.
| Acknowledgements |
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| Footnotes |
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Submitted for publication September 14, 1999; revised November 12 and December 20, 1999; accepted December 30, 1999.
Commercial relationships policy: N.
Corresponding author: Stephen S. M. Chung, Institute of Molecular Biology, The University of Hong Kong, 8 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China. smchung{at}hkucc.hku.hk
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