Figure 3
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) induced inflammation in retinal pigment epithelial cells. (a) Cytotoxicity of different concentrations of N-retinylidene-N-retinylethanolamine (A2E) towards retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19). Cell viability was determined by the MTT assay. (b) Inflammatory cytokines in the HCEC basolateral media may disrupt tight junctions in ARPE-19 cells. Relative transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) of ARPE-19 cells incubated with PBS (control), interleukin (IL) 6 (20 ng/mL), or human corneal endothelial cells (HCEC) basolateral media for 24 h. Experimental groups were compared using ANOVA (P = 0.0001), and Dunnett’s multiple comparisons tests were used for paired comparisons between control and IL-6- or HCEC basolateral media-treated ARPE-19 cells. P values below 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance. (c) Basolateral media of HCEC treated with PBS (control) or corneal epithelial cells (HCEpiC) basolateral media for 16 h were collected and used to treat ARPE-19 cells for 16 h. ARPE-19 cells were also treated with 50 μM A2E for 16 h. Levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Experimental groups were compared using ANOVA, and Dunnett’s multiple comparisons tests were used for paired comparisons between control and HCEC basolateral media- or HCEC basolateral media + A2E-treated ARPE-19 cells. P values below 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance. (d) Same experiment as in Fig. 3c, using human primary retinal epithelial cells instead of ARPE-19 cells. Asterisks denote statistical significance.
