Photobiomodulation at 660 nm promotes collagen synthesis via downregulation of HIF-1α expression without photodamage in human scleral fibroblasts in vitro in a hypoxic environment

• Published in: Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology 2023-09, Vol.261 (9), p.2535-2545
• Main Authors: Zhang, Pengbo, Zhang, Xibo, Zhu, Huang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Basic Science; Cell culture; Cell migration; Cell proliferation; Cholecystokinin; Collagen; Collagen (type I); Down-regulation; Fibroblasts; Flow cytometry; Hypoxia; Hypoxia-inducible factor 1a; Immunofluorescence; Light therapy; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Microenvironments; Myopia; Ophthalmology; Public health; Transfection; Western blotting
• ISSN: 0721-832X; 1435-702X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00417-023-06066-5

Purpose The increasing prevalence of myopia is a global public health issue. Because of the complexity of myopia pathogenesis, current control methods for myopia have great limitations. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of photobiomodulation (PBM) on human sclera fibroblasts (HSFs) under hypoxia, in the hope of providing new ideas for myopia prevention and control. Methods Hypoxic cell model was established at 0, 6, 12, and 24 h time points to simulate myopia microenvironment and explore the optimal time point. Control, hypoxia, hypoxia plus light, and normal plus light cell models were set up for the experiments, and cells were incubated for 24 or 48 h after PBM (660 nm, 5 J/cm 2 ), followed by evaluation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and collagen I a1 (COL1A1) proteins using Western blotting and immunofluorescence, and photo damage was detected by CCK-8, scratch test, and flow cytometry assays. We also used transfection technology to further elucidate the regulatory mechanism. Results The change of target proteins is most obvious when hypoxia lasts for 24 h ( p