Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39115645›Full record

ArticleCell biochemistry and biophysics2025

TRB3 Promotes Cataract Progression through Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-mediated Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Cell Apoptosis.

Junyi Liu, Yongying Tang, Jiang Li, Hong Zhang, Xu Zha, Quan Chen, Jinghua Li, Xueying Zhao

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Cell biochemistry and biophysics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Cataract Induced by Glucocorticoids.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Junyi Liu *Department of Ophthalmology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650000, China.
Yongying Tang *Department of Ophthalmology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650000, China.
Jiang LiDepartment of Ophthalmology, Kunming Children's Hospital, Kunming, 650034, China.
Hong ZhangDepartment of Ophthalmology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650000, China.
Xu ZhaDepartment of Ophthalmology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650000, China.
Quan ChenDepartment of Ophthalmology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650000, China.
Jinghua LiDepartment of Ophthalmology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650000, China. ljh745610732@126.com.
Xueying ZhaoDepartment of Ophthalmology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650000, China. zhaoxueying@kmmu.edu.cn.

Funding

Technology Program of Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology-Basic Research Program 202201AY070001-132
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cataracts are characterized as a disease affecting lens opacity. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress can cause lens epithelial cell (LEC) dysfunction, affecting normal lens transparency and function, but the role of Tribbles 3 (TRB3), an inducible gene of ER stress, in cataracts is poorly understood. This study explored how TRB3 promotes cataract progression through ER stress. We administered a subcutaneous injection of sodium selenite at a dosage of 3.46 mg/kg to rats to create an animal model of cataracts. Additionally, we exposed rat LEC cells to 0.01 μM tunicamycin (TM) for 24 h to establish a cell model of ER stress. The detection of related genes and proteins was performed via RT‒qPCR and Western blot techniques. Flow cytometry, along with JC-1, TUNEL, and HE staining, was employed to assess damage to cells and lens tissues. This study revealed that TRB3 was abnormally highly expressed in both a cataract rat model and an ER stress cell model. Knocking down TRB3 has a similar effect as treatment with an ER stress inhibitor, effectively reversing the ER stress and apoptosis induced by TM. This effect includes increasing the mitochondrial membrane potential in LEC cells, lowering reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, increasing ATP production, suppressing the expression of the apoptosis-related proteins Bax and C-caspase-3, increasing Bcl-2 expression, and decreasing apoptosis. Furthermore, TRB3 knockdown improved the pathological conditions of rat lenses and inhibited mitochondrial dysfunction and cell apoptosis to relieve the development of cataracts in rats. Mechanistically, CHOP promotes the expression of TRB3 by binding to the TRB3 promoter, thereby activating ER stress, leading to mitochondrial dysfunction and cell apoptosis in LEC cells and accelerating the development of cataracts. According to our findings, targeting TRB3 expression inhibition could emerge as a novel approach for cataract therapy.

Indexed as

ApoptosisCataractCell Cycle ProteinsEndoplasmic Reticulum StressMitochondriaProtein Serine-Threonine KinasesAnimalsCell LineDisease Models, AnimalDisease ProgressionEpithelial CellsLens, CrystallineMaleMembrane Potential, MitochondrialRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyCell Cycle ProteinsProtein Serine-Threonine KinasesReactive Oxygen SpeciesTranscription Factor CHOPTrib3 protein, ratTunicamycinCataractC/EBP homologous proteinEndoplasmic reticulum stressMitochondrial dysfunctionTribbles 3

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.