Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39981241›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in immunology2025

The AMD-associated genetic polymorphism CFH Y402H confers vulnerability to Hydroquinone-induced stress in iPSC-RPE cells.

Angela Armento, Inga Sonntag, Ana-Cristina Almansa-Garcia, Merve Sen, Sylvia Bolz, Blanca Arango-Gonzalez, Ellen Kilger, Ruchi Sharma, Kapil Bharti, Rosario Fernandez-Godino and 3 more

Abstract read
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Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Angela ArmentoDepartment for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Inga SonntagDepartment for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Ana-Cristina Almansa-GarciaDepartment for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Merve SenDepartment for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Sylvia BolzDepartment for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Blanca Arango-GonzalezDepartment for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Ellen KilgerDepartment for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Ruchi SharmaOcular Stem Cells and Translational Research (OSCTR) Section, Ophthalmic Genetic and Visual Function Branch (OGVFB), National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States.
Kapil BhartiOcular Stem Cells and Translational Research (OSCTR) Section, Ophthalmic Genetic and Visual Function Branch (OGVFB), National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States.
Rosario Fernandez-GodinoScreening and Target Validation, Fundacion MEDINA, Granada, Spain.
Berta de la CerdaRetinal Neurodegeneration and Advanced Therapies, Centro Andaluz de Biología Molecular y Medicina Regenerativa (CABIMER), Sevilla, Spain.
Simon J ClarkDepartment for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Marius UeffingDepartment for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a degenerative disease of the macula, is caused by an interplay of diverse risk factors (genetic predisposition, age and lifestyle habits). One of the main genetic risks includes the Y402H polymorphism in complement Factor H (FH), an inhibitor of complement system activation. There has been, and continues to be, much discussion around the functional consequences of this Y402H polymorphism, whether the soluble FH protein confers its risk association, or if the cells expressing the protein themselves are affected by the genetic alteration. In our study, we examined the cell characteristics of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, which play a major role in retinal homeostasis and stability and which are synonymously linked to AMD. Methods: Here, we employ RPE cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) generated from donors, carrying either homozygous 402Y (low risk) or 402H (high risk) variants of the Results: Intriguingly, RPE cells carrying high genetic risk proved more vulnerable to oxidative insult when exposed to HQ, as demonstrated by increased cytotoxicity and caspase activation, compared to the low-risk RPE cells. The exposure of RPE cells to RPE conditioned medium, normal human serum (NHS) and inactivated NHS (iNHS) had minimal impact on cell cytotoxicity and caspase activation, nor did the presence of purified soluble FH rescue the observed effects. Considering the known connection of oxidative stress to proteotoxic stress and degrading processes, we investigated the unfolded protein response (UPR) and autophagy. When exposed to HQ, RPE cells showed an increase in autophagy markers; however, iPSC-RPE cells carrying high genetic risk showed an overall reduced autophagic flux. Discussion: Our findings suggest that the degree of cellular susceptibility to oxidative stress is not conferred by soluble FH protein and other complement sources, but intercellularly because of the corresponding genetic risk predisposition. Our data support the hypothesis that RPE cells carrying high genetic risk are less resilient to oxidative stress.

Indexed as

Complement Factor HHydroquinonesInduced Pluripotent Stem CellsMacular DegenerationOxidative StressPolymorphism, Single NucleotideRetinal Pigment EpitheliumGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseHumansCFH protein, humanComplement Factor HhydroquinoneHydroquinonesage-related macular degeneration (AMD)autophagycomplement factor H (CFH)oxidative stressretinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells

Identifiers

PMID39981241
PMCPMC11839594

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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.