Effects of HIF-1α antisense oligodeoxynucleotides on HIF-1α and VEGF expression in hypoxic retinal endothelial cells

Objective To investigate the feasibility and mechanism of hypoxia-inducible factors-1α( HIF-1α) antisense oligodeoxynucleotides( ASODN) for the therapy of retinal neovasculation. Methods Bovine hypoxic retinal endothelial cell ( BREC) were cultured in vitro and divided into transfection group and non-transfection group,the transfection group was transfected with HIF-1α ASODN,both the two groups were given CoCl2-induced hypoxic treatment. Expression of HIF-1α was measured with immuno fluorescence staining,VEGF of BREC cells was detected by ELISA assay. Results HIF-1α ASODN was successfully transfected into BREC cells. The expression of HIF-1α in non-transfection group was very low at the early time of anoxia,increased at 1h ,reached peak at 4h ,decreased after 16h. The expression of HIF-1αin transfection group maintained at very low level and showed significant difference to the nontransfection group( P 0. 01) . Conclu- sions The transfection of HIF-1α ASODN can effectively down-regulate the expression of HIF-1α and VEGF. The therapeutic prospect of HIF-1α ASODN on retinal neovasculation is worthy of further investigation.