Differential Effects of TGFβ and Vitreous on the Transformation of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells

Abstract

Vitreous or TGFbeta caused a fibroblast-like morphology and induced Snail1, a marker of EMT. TGFbeta activity in vitreous was necessary but not sufficient for the vitreous-induced motile, invasive phenotype. However, differences in the cytoskeletal organization and in the expression of CTGF and alpha-SMA suggested that TGFbeta-treatment caused differentiation along a myofibroblast pathway, whereas vitreous treatment suppressed myofibroblast formation.