Fig 7. The Role of AR in inflammatory signaling in hNPECs.
The bacterial endotoxin such as LPS is known to induce ROS formation and oxidative stress in cells leading to oxidization of membrane lipids into lipid aldehydes such as 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), which readily reacts with glutathione and to form GS-HNE. AR catalyzed reduction product, GS-DHN, could activate transcription factor NF-κB via activation of protein kinase cascade which transcribe various inflammatory marker genes such as COX-2 and iNOS leading to ocular inflammation. Further, protein kinases such as MAPK have also shown to negatively regulate Na/K-ATPase leading to AqH imbalance.