The effect of dexamethasone on integrin and laminin expression in cultured human trabecular meshwork cells

Glucocorticoid treatment in vivo can produce a glaucoma similar in many ways to POAG. Treatment of trabecular meshwork cells in culture with dexamethasone allows the study of biochemical aspects of this disease process. The effects of dexamethasone on the expression of integrins and laminin in both normal and glaucomatous cultured human trabecular meshwork cells were evaluated. Human trabecular meshwork cell lines were cultured for 18 days in the presence or absence of 10^{- 7} M dexamethasone. Radioimmunoprecipitation was used to determine the relative expression of five α integrin subunits. Laminin expression was evaluated with Western blots. Laminin was increased in all cell lines following dexamethasone treatment. α2, α5 and αV integrin chains showed consistent dexamethasone-induced changes in expression, while α3 and α4 subunits did not. There were no differences in the expression patterns for any of these integrin subunits between normal and glaucomatous cell lines. Increased laminin deposition as seen in this study with dexamethasone treatment may be partially responsible for the decreased outflow facility seen in both steroid-induced glaucoma and in POAG.