Abstract
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major complication of diabetes and a leading cause of blindness and visual impairment. This study focuses on the function of lysine acetyltransferase 1 (KAT1) in the progression of DR and the epigenetic mechanism. A mouse model with DR was induced by streptozotocin (STZ). Abundantly expressed genes in STZ-induced mice were analyzed. KAT1 was found to be significantly downregulated in the retinal tissues of model mice. Retinal microvascular endothelial cells (RMECs) and retinal Müller cells (rMCs) were cultured in high-glucose medium for in vitro studies. Upregulation of KAT1 suppressed inflammation, neovascularization, and vascular leakage in mouse retinal tissues, and it reduced the activity and inflammatory responses in rMCs, as well as the proliferation and metastatic potential of RMECs. KAT1 activated the transcription activity of YTHDF2 through histone acetylation of the promoter, and YTHDF2 triggered the instability of ITGB1 mRNA to induce mRNA degradation in an m6A manner. The activities of rMCs and RMECs were increased by sh-YTHDF2 but suppressed by sh-ITGB1. The FAK/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was suppressed upon ITGB1 silencing. Collectively, this study demonstrated that KAT1 triggers YTHDF2-mediated ITGB1 mRNA instability to alleviate the progression of DR.