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ABSTRACT
ZNF503 antisense RNA 1 (ZNF503-AS1) is a newly identified long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that regulates retinal pigment epithelium differentiation. To study its role in diabetic retinopathy, we performed RT-qPCR to measure plasma ZNF503-AS1 levels of 298 diabetic patients immediately after the diagnosis, during the follow-up, and at the end of follow-up. Plasma lncRNA ZNF503-AS1 expression in 96 healthy participants was also detected by RT-qPCR. Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) expression after ZNF503-AS1 overexpression was detected by Western blot. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were detected by cell proliferation and apoptosis assays, respectively. We found that ZNF503-AS1 was not differentially expressed in healthy participants and diabetic patients. High plasma lncRNA ZNF503-AS1 level was correlated with a high incidence of diabetic retinopathy. Plasma lncRNA ZNF503-AS1 level was higher in patients with diabetic retinopathy than in patients with other complications (p < 0.05). ZNF503-AS1 overexpression inhibited proliferation, promoted cell apoptosis, and upregulated TGF-β1 expression (p < 0.05). We concluded that ZNF503-AS1 might participate in diabetic retinopathy by activating TGF-β signaling.
Graphical Abstract
Author contributions
TH and DN designed this study. TH and WL conducted the experiments. HZ helped with data analyses. TH wrote the manuscript, and DN revised the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.
Availability of data and material
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Ethics approval and consent to participate
This study passed the review board of the Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Hospital at Changchun University of Chinese Medicine. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.