AIM: To investigate the endoplasmic reticulum stress(ERS)induced by all-trans retinoic acid(ATRA)in ARPE-19 cells.

METHODS:Immunofluorescence, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were used to detect the protein and mRNA expression of related signal pathways during the process of endoplasmic reticulum stress response induced by ATRA in ARPE-19 cells.

RESULTS: With the accumulation of ATRA concentration, the protein and mRNA levels of endoplasmic reticulum stress response marker proteins chop and BiP were significantly increased(P<0.001); in the downstream signaling pathways, perk, eIF2 α, ATF4, IRE1 α and XBP1 were up-regulated(P<0.001), while the expression of ATF6 did not change(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Over accumulation of ATRA induces ERS in ARPE-19 cells and activates PERK-EIF2 α-ATF4 and IRE1 α-XBP1 signaling pathways