Activation of Nogo receptor (NgR) is an essential factor of nerve regeneration inhibition, neuronal atrophy and even apoptosis.

Inhibition of Nogo ReceptorShare on Pinterest
Immunohistochemical staining revealed that after inhibition of Nogo receptor expression in retinal ganglion cells of rats with diabetes mellitus, Rho-associated protein kinase-positive cells were reduced.
Credit: Neural Regeneration Research

Upregulation of NgR expression is an important cause of cell apoptosis and visual extinction in some diseases including glaucoma.

Whether ganglion cell apoptosis is related to NgR gene expression in diabetes mellitus remains poorly understood. Dr. Xuezheng Liu and his team, Liaoning Medical University, China interfered NgR expression in the retinal ganglion cells of rats with diabetes mellitus and found that Rho kinase expression was obviously inhibited and retinal ganglion cell apoptosis was evidently reduced in rats with diabetes mellitus.

These results indicate that upregulation of NgR expression is an important mechanism of retinal ganglion cell apoptosis in rats with diabetes mellitus, which is likely to be related to changes in Rho kinase expression in NgR downstream molecules.

Related results were published in Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 8, 2014).

Article: " Upregulation of Nogo receptor expression induces apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells in diabetic rats," by Xuezheng Liu1, Zhongfu Zuo1, Wanpeng Liu1, Zhiyun Wang1, Yang Hou2, Yunjie Fu1, Yuzhi Han1 (1 Department of Anatomy, Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China; 2 Scientifc Experimental Center, Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China)

Liu XZ, Zuo ZF, Liu WP, Wang ZY, Hou Y, Fu YJ, Han YZ. Upregulation of Nogo receptor expression induces apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells in diabetic rats. Neural Regen Res. 2014;9(8):815-820.