Hypoxia:: modulation of endothelial cell proliferation by soluble factors released by retinal cells

A devastating complication of ischemic retinopathies is retinal neovascularization. We studied the impact on retinal endothelial cell proliferation of soluble factors released from cultured retinal glial (Muller) cells and from retinal explant cultures. Hypoxia strongly stimulated VEGF release by all types of cultures but endothelial cell growth was not further increased by the corresponding conditioned media if compared to supernatants obtained under normoxia. When the final concentration of the hypoxia-conditioned media was adjusted to the VEGF level of normoxia-conditioned media, they even inhibited endothelial cell proliferation. Inhibition may be exerted by TGF-beta2 but TGF-beta2 mRNA and protein expression in Muller cells were found to be down-regulated under hypoxia. We conclude that retinal endothelial cell proliferation is controlled by the balance of the amount and/or efficacy of several stimulatory and inhibitory factors. NeuroReport 12:4103-4108 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.