Minocycline decreases CCR2-positive monocytes in the retina and ameliorates photoreceptor degeneration in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239108
• Publication Date: 2021-04-22T19:11:07Z
• Authors: Ryo Terauchi; Hideo Kohno; Sumiko Watanabe; Saburo Saito; Akira Watanabe; Tadashi Nakano
• Keywords: MERTK; Photoreceptor cell; Minocycline; Outer nuclear layer

Retinal inflammation accelerates photoreceptor cell death caused by retinal degeneration. Minocycline, a semisynthetic broad-spectrum tetracycline antibiotic, has been previously reported to rescue in We examined the effect of minocycline on degeneration using c-mer proto-oncogene tyrosine kinase ( Mertk) −/− Cx3cr1 GFP/+ Ccr2 RFP/+ mice, which enabled observation CX3CR1-green fluorescent protein (GFP)- and CCR2-red (RFP)-positive macrophages fluorescence. Retinas Mertk mice showed accumulation GFP- RFP-positive outer retina subretinal space at 6 weeks age. were intraperitoneally administered minocycline. The number CCR2-RFP positive cells significantly decreased after treatment. Furthermore, administration resulted partial reversal thinning nuclear layer apoptotic cells, as assessed TUNEL assay, mice. In conclusion, we found that ameliorated an inherited model due gene deficiency inhibitory CCR2 macrophages, is likely be neuroprotective mechanism