Abstract

Green tea polyphenol (GTP) is water-soluble medical additives which possess particular significance as free radical scavengers or antioxidants in biological systems. The present study investigated the protective effect of green tea polyphenols against ultraviolet B (UVB)–induced damage to human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Microstructure of RPE cells was examined by transmission electron microscopy and the expression of c-fos was examined in messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) as well as protein level by using real-timepolymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blot assay. The results indicated that UVB irradiation-induced injuries in RPE cells were markedly suppressed by GTP. The mechanism of GTP protected RPE cells from UVB damage might be related to signal pathway regulation and DNA restoration, suggesting GTP as a potential candidate for further development and aslo a chemoprotective material for prevention of UVB exposure induced eye diseases.

Key words: Green tea polyphenol, ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation, C-fos.

Abbreviation

 GTP, Green tea polyphenol; UVB, ultraviolet B; RPE, retinal pigment epithelial; AMD, age-related macular degeneration; FBS, fetal bovine serum; GAPDH,glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; CREB, cAMP response element binding protein; ROS, reactive oxygen species; CPD, cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer; EGCG, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate.