Diabetes alters tight junction integrity in retinal capillaries

Copyright information:Taken from "Inhibition of Advanced Glycation and Absence of Galectin-3 Prevent Blood-Retinal Barrier Dysfunction during Short-Term Diabetes"Experimental Diabetes Research 2007;2007():-.Published online 12 Apr 2007PMCID:PMC1880865. Fluorescein dextran angiography on retinal flat mounts shows integrity of the retinal microvasculature in nondiabetic mice (a) while there is a clear leakage of tracer (∼40 kd) into the retinal neuropile in 2-week diabetic animals (b) (original magnification x100). Fluorescent immunostaining for occludin-1 of retinal flat mounts from nondiabetic WT mice demonstrates plasma membrane localization at the tight junctions (TJs) of the endothelium (c). By contrast with diabetic animals, there is aggregation of occludin-1 in the cytoplasm of endothelial cells rather than at the plasma membrane (e). PM treatment of diabetic mice only partially prevents disruption of the junctional integrity (g). Nondiabetic (d), diabetic (f), and PM-treated Gal-3 mice (h) show none of the diabetes-induced changes observed in WT counterparts (original magnification x200).