화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.133, No.4, 849-857, 2011
Enzymatic Degradation of A2E, a Retinal Pigment Epithelial Lipofuscin Bisretinoid
Some forms of blinding macular disease are associated with excessive accumulation of bisretinoid lipofuscin in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells of the eye. This material is refractory to lysosomal enzyme degradation. In addition to gene and drug-based therapies, treatments that reverse the accumulation of bisretinoid would be beneficial. Thus, we have examined the feasibility of degrading the bisretinoids by delivery of exogenous enzyme. As proof of principle we report that horseradish peroxidase (HRP) can cleave the RPE bisretinoid A2E. In both cell-free and cell-based assays, A2E levels were decreased in the presence of HRP. HRP-associated cleavage products were detected by ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and the structures of the aldehyde-bearing cleavage products were elucidated by O-18-labeling and H-1 NMR spectroscopy and by recording UV-vis absorbance spectra. These findings indicate that RPE bisretinoids such as A2E can be degraded by appropriate enzyme activities.