{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T02:02:49Z","timestamp":1787450569082,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,31]],"date-time":"2021-05-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1622419200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000053","name":"National Eye Institute","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["EY027082"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EY027082"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000053","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study investigates whether reduced optic atrophy 1 (Opa1) level promotes apoptosis and retinal vascular lesions associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR). Four groups of mice: wild type (WT) control mice, streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice, Opa1+\/\u2212 mice, and diabetic Opa1+\/\u2212 mice were used in this study. 16 weeks after diabetes onset, retinas were assessed for Opa1 and Bax levels by Western blot analysis, and retinal networks were examined for acellular capillaries (AC) and pericyte loss (PL). Apoptotic cells were detected in retinal capillaries using TUNEL assay, and caspase-3 activity was assessed using fluorometric analysis. Opa1 expression was significantly downregulated in retinas of diabetic and Opa1+\/\u2212 mice compared with those of WT mice. Inducing diabetes further decreased Opa1 expression in retinas of Opa1+\/\u2212 mice. Increased cytochrome c release concomitant with increased level of pro-apoptotic Bax and elevated caspase-3 activity were observed in retinas of diabetic and Opa1+\/\u2212 mice; the number of TUNEL-positive cells and AC\/PL was also significantly increased. An additional decrease in the Opa1 level in retinas of diabetic Opa1+\/\u2212 mice exacerbated the development of apoptotic cells and AC\/PL compared with those of diabetic mice. Diabetes-induced Opa1 downregulation contributes, at least in part, to the development of retinal vascular lesions characteristic of DR.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms22115928","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,31]],"date-time":"2021-05-31T21:42:06Z","timestamp":1622497326000},"page":"5928","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Opa1 Deficiency Promotes Development of Retinal Vascular Lesions in Diabetic Retinopathy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Dongjoon","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7680-9135","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marcela","family":"Votruba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK"},{"name":"Cardiff Eye Unit, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XW, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sayon","family":"Roy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Duh, E.J., Sun, J.K., and Stitt, A.W. 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