Zeaxanthin Inhibits Hypoxia-Induced VEGF Secretion by RPE Cells through Decreased Protein Levels of Hypoxia-Inducible Factors-1α

Figure 1

Effects of hypoxia and zeaxanthin on cell viability of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. RPE cells were seeded into 96-well plates at a density of cells per well. Cells were incubated under normoxic or hypoxic conditions (1% O₂) or cultured with CoCl₂ at 50, 100, 150, and 200μM (a). Zeaxanthin at 1, 50, 100, and 150μM was added into the culture medium under normoxic condition (b). After 24 h, cell viability was determined by MTT assay (see Section 2). Hypoxia and zeaxanthin at test concentrations did not affect the cell viability (). Data are expressed as the percentage of optical readings in normoxia (, ).

(a)

(b)