Downregulation of COL12A1 and COL13A1 by a selective EP2 receptor agonist, omidenepag, in human trabecular meshwork cells

PLoS One. 2023 Jan 11;18(1):e0280331. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280331. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Omidenepag isopropyl (OMDI) is an intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering drug used to treat glaucoma. The active form of OMDI, omidenepag (OMD), lowers elevated IOP, the main risk factor for glaucoma, by increasing the aqueous humor outflow; however, a detailed understanding of this mechanism is lacking. To clarify the IOP-lowering mechanism of OMDI, the effects of OMD on the mRNA expression of the extracellular matrix, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) were evaluated in human trabecular meshwork cells. Under 2D culture conditions, the mRNA expression of FN1, COL1A1, COL1A2, COL12A1, and COL13A1 decreased in a concentration-dependent manner after 6 or 24 h treatment with 10 nM, 100 nM, and 1 μM OMD, while that of COL18A1 decreased after 6 h treatment with 1 μM OMD. Significant changes in expression were observed for many MMP and TIMP genes. Under 3D culture conditions, the extracellular matrix-related genes COL12A1 and COL13A1 were downregulated by OMD treatment at all three concentrations. Under both 2D and 3D culture conditions, COL12A1 and COL13A1 were downregulated following OMD treatment. Reduction in the extracellular matrix contributes to the decrease in outflow resistance, suggesting that the downregulation of the two related genes may be one of the factors influencing the IOP-lowering effect of OMDI. Our findings provide insights for the use of OMDI in clinical practice.

MeSH terms

  • Aqueous Humor / metabolism
  • Collagen Type XII / metabolism
  • Down-Regulation
  • Glaucoma* / drug therapy
  • Glaucoma* / genetics
  • Glaucoma* / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Intraocular Pressure
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Trabecular Meshwork* / metabolism

Substances

  • Collagen Type I, alpha2 Subunit
  • RNA, Messenger
  • COL12A1 protein, human
  • Collagen Type XII

Grants and funding

M. Kumon, M.F., A.S., N.O.K., and M. Kato are employees of Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. R.I. and K.Y. are employees of UBE Corporation. The funders provided support in the form of salaries for authors M. Kumon, M.F., A.S., N.O.K., M. Kato, R.I., and K.Y. but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.