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STAT3 promotes survival of mutant photoreceptors in inherited photoreceptor degeneration models.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Jiang, K; Wright, KL; Zhu, P; Szego, MJ; Bramall, AN; Hauswirth, WW; Li, Q; Egan, SE; McInnes, RR
Published in: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
December 30, 2014

Inherited photoreceptor degenerations (IPDs), a group of incurable progressive blinding diseases, are caused by mutations in more than 200 genes, but little is known about the molecular pathogenesis of photoreceptor (PR) death. Increased retinal expression of STAT3 has been observed in response to many retinal insults, including IPDs, but the role of this increase in PR death is unknown. Here, we show that the expression of Stat3 is increased in PRs of the Tg(RHO P347S) and Prph2(rds) (/+) mouse models of IPD and is activated by tyrosine phosphorylation. PR-specific deletion of Stat3 substantially accelerated PR degeneration in both mutant strains. In contrast, increased PR-specific expression of ROSA26 (R26) alleles encoding either WT STAT3 (Stat3(wt)) or the gain-of-function variant STAT3(C) (Stat3(C)) improved PR survival in both models. Moreover, PR signaling in Tg(RHO P347S) mice carrying either a R26-Stat3(wt) or R26-Stat3(C) allele demonstrated increased a-wave amplitude of the scotopic electroretinogram. Phosphorylation of STAT3 at tyrosine 705 was required for the prosurvival effect because an R26-Stat3(Y705F) allele was not protective. The prosurvival role of enhanced Stat3 activity was validated using recombinant adenoassociated virus (rAAV) vector-mediated PR Stat3 expression in Tg(RHO P347S) mice. Our findings (i) establish that the increase in endogenous PR Stat3 expression is a protective response in IPDs, (ii) suggest that therapeutic augmentation of PR Stat3 expression has potential as a common neuroprotective therapy for these disorders, and (iii) indicate that prosurvival molecules whose expression is increased in mutant PRs may have promise as novel therapies for IPDs.

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Published In

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

Publication Date

December 30, 2014

Volume

111

Issue

52

Start / End Page

E5716 / E5723

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • STAT3 Transcription Factor
  • Retinal Degeneration
  • RNA, Untranslated
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate
  • Mutation
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Mice
  • Genetic Diseases, Inborn
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Disease Models, Animal
 

Citation

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Jiang, K., Wright, K. L., Zhu, P., Szego, M. J., Bramall, A. N., Hauswirth, W. W., … McInnes, R. R. (2014). STAT3 promotes survival of mutant photoreceptors in inherited photoreceptor degeneration models. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 111(52), E5716–E5723. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411248112
Jiang, Ke, Katherine L. Wright, Ping Zhu, Michael J. Szego, Alexa N. Bramall, William W. Hauswirth, Qiuhong Li, Sean E. Egan, and Roderick R. McInnes. “STAT3 promotes survival of mutant photoreceptors in inherited photoreceptor degeneration models.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111, no. 52 (December 30, 2014): E5716–23. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411248112.
Jiang K, Wright KL, Zhu P, Szego MJ, Bramall AN, Hauswirth WW, et al. STAT3 promotes survival of mutant photoreceptors in inherited photoreceptor degeneration models. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Dec 30;111(52):E5716–23.
Jiang, Ke, et al. “STAT3 promotes survival of mutant photoreceptors in inherited photoreceptor degeneration models.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, vol. 111, no. 52, Dec. 2014, pp. E5716–23. Pubmed, doi:10.1073/pnas.1411248112.
Jiang K, Wright KL, Zhu P, Szego MJ, Bramall AN, Hauswirth WW, Li Q, Egan SE, McInnes RR. STAT3 promotes survival of mutant photoreceptors in inherited photoreceptor degeneration models. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Dec 30;111(52):E5716–E5723.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

Publication Date

December 30, 2014

Volume

111

Issue

52

Start / End Page

E5716 / E5723

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • STAT3 Transcription Factor
  • Retinal Degeneration
  • RNA, Untranslated
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate
  • Mutation
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Mice
  • Genetic Diseases, Inborn
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Disease Models, Animal