Experimental murine myopia induces collagen type Iα1 (COL1A1) DNA methylation and altered COL1A1 messenger RNA expression in sclera.

Abstract

In parallel with the development of myopia and the reduced COL1A1 mRNA, the frequency of methylation in CpG sites of the COL1A1 promoter/exon 1 increased during MD and returned to near normal during recovery. Thus, hypermethylation of CpG sites in the promoter/exon 1 of COL1A1 may underlie reduced collagen synthesis at the transcriptional level in myopic scleras.