Elevated anti-apoptotic shift in primary human aniridia limbal stromal cells following 48 hours supraphysiological glucose exposure, in vitro
Fig 2
mRNA levels of CASP family markers (A-E), BCL2 family markers (F-H) and other apoptosis-related markers (I-M) in limbal stromal cells (LSCs) and aniridia-LSCs (AN-LSCs), after treatment with 17.5 mM and 70 mM glucose for 48 hours.
CASP3, CASP7, CASP8, CASP9 and CASP10 mRNA levels (A-E), BCL2, BAX and BID mRNA levels (F-H) and CDKN1A, CDKN1B, TNFα, XIAP and BIRC5 mRNA levels (I-M) are shown. Values are expressed on a logarithmic (log₂) scale as geometric mean ± geometric standard deviation. Statistical analysis was performed using two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test; significant p values are indicated. Following 70 mM glucose treatment, CASP8 and CASP10 mRNA levels were significantly reduced in both LSCs (p = 0.0448) and AN-LSCs (p = 0.0171), while XIAP and BIRC5 were significantly upregulated (p = 0.0375; p = 0.0442). In AN-LSCs, CASP3 and CDKN1A mRNA levels were also significantly decreased under high glucose compared to 17.5 mM (p = 0.0331). Additionally, under 70 mM glucose conditions, BAX mRNA levels were significantly lower in AN-LSCs than in LSCs (p = 0.0255).