Nuclear Factor of Activated T Cells Is Activated in the Endothelium of Retinal Microvessels in Diabetic Mice

Figure 3

Acute hyperglycemia increases NFATc3 nuclear accumulation and NFAT-dependent transcriptional activity in retinal microvessels. (a) Blood glucose levels measured before and 30 min after an i.p. injection of glucose (2 g/kg; IP-GTT, black bars) or saline (control, white bars) in BALB/c mice, -8 mice/group. (b) Summarized data from confocal immunofluorescence experiments in the mice described in (a), showing increased NFATc3 nuclear accumulation in the retinal endothelium of hyperglycemic mice when compared to controls. (c) Blood glucose levels measured before and 30 min after an i.p. injection of glucose (2 g/kg; IP-GTT, black bars) or saline (control, white bars) NFAT-luc mice. (d)-(e) NFAT-dependent transcriptional activity in isolated retinal vessels (d) and whole retinas (e) in the NFAT-luc mice described in (c) measured 6 hours after i.p. injection of glucose or saline. Relative light units (RLU) in (d) and (e) were normalized to protein content and expressed as percentage of vehicle-treated control. mice/group. and versus normoglycemic control group.