Research Article

Pronerve Growth Factor Induces Angiogenesis via Activation of TrkA: Possible Role in Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

Figure 3

ProNGF and aqueous humor from PDR patients stimulated cell proliferation. HRE cells were grown into confluence then trypsinized and plated as described in method section. Cells were switched to serum free medium and treated with aqueous humor samples (10 μL/mL) in the presence or absence of either anti-proNGF antibody or rabbit IgG (1 μg/mL) for 24 hours then cells were trypsinized and counted. Statistical analysis showed that aqueous humor from PDR patients stimulated cell proliferation by 1.8-fold compared to the control group. Adding anti-proNGF antibody to aqueous humor samples significantly reduced the relative number of proliferating cells while IgG did not. Addition of anti-proNGF antibody to HRE cells did not affect number of proliferating cells (*,‡statistically significant compared to control and aqueous humor groups, resp., ( ), of aqueous humor samples = 6, of cell cultures = 12–14).
432659.fig.003