C3a Increases VEGF and Decreases PEDF mRNA Levels in Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells

Figure 4

Effect of siRNA targeting C3 on the level of VEGF (a) and PEDF (b) mRNA in cultured ARPE-19 cells treated with exogenous C3a. The ARPE-19 cells were incubated with 0.1 pmol/μL siRNA to C3. Forty-eight hours after transfection of siRNA, cells were incubated with 0.1 μM C3a for an additional 24 hours. The ratio of the abundance of each mRNA to that of GAPDH was evaluated by densitometric analysis. Data are mean ± SD (). (a) VEGF mRNA level was significantly lower in siRNA targeting C3 combined with C3a treated cells compared to control siRNA combined with C3a treated cells; (b) the PEDF mRNA level was significantly higher in siRNA targeting C3 + C3a treated cells compared to siRNA + C3a treated cells; versus control siRNA + C3a treated cells.

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(b)