Aim: The time course changes of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) expression induced
by hypoxia and the effects of genistein on hypoxia-induced bFGF expression in the human
retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells were studied.
Methods: The bFGF mRNA expression was examined by reverse transcription polymerase
chain reaction. The bFGF protein expression was detected by Western blot.
Results: Hypoxia significantly increased bFGF mRNA expression. The maximal level detected
at 24 h was approximately two times that at the start of treatment. With pretreatment
of genistein (10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 µM) for 30 min, the elevated expression of bFGF mRNA
was suppressed in a concentration-dependent manner. bFGF mRNA expression was reduced
to 30.4% by 200 µM of genistein when compared with that untreated with genistein. Hypoxia
treatment also remarkably increased the expression of bFGF protein. At 24 h after hypoxia,
when the highest expression of bFGF protein was observed, it was approximately two times
as much as that at the start of treatment. Genistein (10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 µM) could also
suppress bFGF protein expression in a concentration-dependent manner. The highest suppression
was observed when exposed to 200 µM of genistein, which was 43% of control.
Conclusions: These results suggested that suppression of bFGF expression in RPE cells might
partly account for the inhibitive effect of genistein on retinal neovascularization in vivo.
