Research progress on the inhibition of photoreceptor cell apoptosis by the pentose phosphate pathway and its molecular mechanism

Photoreceptor cells are a special type of neuroepithelial cells, which play an important role in the generation and transmission of visual signals.They mainly meet the physiological needs by ingesting a large amount of glucose for glucose metabolism.Photoreceptor cell apoptosis is a common cause of blindness in patients with retinal diseases, which is accompanied by changes in oxidative stress and anabolism.Recent studies have found that pentose phosphate pathway, an important branch of glucose metabolism, plays an essential role in the development of the above-mentioned pathology.Its product, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), as a crucial hydrogen donor in photoreceptor cells, participates in substance synthesis and metabolism, resists oxidative stress, and then inhibits apoptosis of photoreceptor cells.This review summarized the mechanism of pentose phosphate pathway in inhibiting photoreceptor cell apoptosis from the perspective of view of metabolic activity and molecular pathway to provide reference for clinical scientific research.

Photoreceptor cells; Apoptosis; Pentose phosphate pathway; Oxidative stress; Lipid metabolism; Review