IL ‐17 signaling induces iNOS + microglia activation in retinal vascular diseases

作者：Tian Zhou, Yan Liu, Ziqi Yang, Biyan Ni, Xiaowei Zhu, Zijing Huang, Huiyi Xu, Qiumin Feng, Xiaojing Lin, Chang He, Xialin Liu · 发表于：Glia · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1002/glia.24063 · 被引用次数：37 · 研究领域：Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms、Retinal and Optic Conditions、Ocular Diseases and Behçet’s Syndrome

Activation of microglia and inflammation-mediated vascular damages are suggested to play a decisive role in the pathogenesis of various retinopathies. The inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was required for activated microglia-mediated injuries. However, the induction mechanism of microglia activation during retinal vascular diseases is still elusive. Here we showed that IL-17 induced microglia activation with high expression of iNOS and promoted the development of retinal vascular diseases. IL-17-dependent activation of the STAT3-iNOS pathway was essentially required for microglia activation, which promoted endothelial cell growth and accelerated vascular leakage and leukostasis via IL-6 in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, our data provide novel mechanistic insights on microglia activation-mediated retinopathy, unveil the specific role of IL-17 on microglia, and define novel therapeutic targets for treating retinal vascular diseases.