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Fig. 2 | Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection

Fig. 2

From: Oxidative photoreceptor cell damage in autoimmune uveitis

Fig. 2

During early EAU, inflammatory cytokines are upregulated, specifically tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). TNF-α is a cytokine known to diffuse and upregulate inducible nitric oxide synthase in adjacent cells, resulting in the generation of NO and the subsequent formation of peroxynitrite (ONOO) in the mitochondria which leads to mitochondrial oxidative stress. The nitration process takes place primarily in the photoreceptor inner segments, an area rich in mitochondria. Mitochondrial oxidative stress causes the initiation of lipid peroxidation and the formation of hydroperoxides; hydroperoxides, along with the nitrated mitochondrial proteins, function as chemotactic agents that amplify the inflammatory processes by recruiting macrophages, resulting in photoreceptor apoptosis

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