Oxidative stress in the brain and retina after traumatic injury
Front Neurosci. 2023 Feb 3;17:1021152. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1021152. eCollection 2023. ABSTRACT The brain and the retina share many physiological similarities, which allows the retina to serve as a model of CNS disease and disorder. In instances of trauma, the eye can even indicate damage to the brain via abnormalities observed such as irregularities in pupillary reflexes […]
Mitochondrial optic neuropathies
Handb Clin Neurol. 2023;194:23-42. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-821751-1.00010-5. ABSTRACT Mitochondrial optic neuropathies have a leading role in the field of mitochondrial medicine ever since 1988, when the first mutation in mitochondrial DNA was associated with Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Autosomal dominant optic atrophy (DOA) was subsequently associated in 2000 with mutations in the nuclear DNA affecting […]
Mitochondrial TXNRD2 and ME3 genetic risk scores are associated with specific primary open-angle glaucoma phenotypes
Ophthalmology. 2023 Feb 20:S0161-6420(23)00129-X. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2023.02.018. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT PURPOSE: Genetic variants in regions that include the mitochondrial genes TXNRD2 and ME3 are associated with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). To assess their clinical impact, we investigated whether TXNRD2 and ME3 genetic risk scores (GRSs) are associated with specific […]
Real-Time Analysis of Bioenergetics in Primary Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells Using High-Resolution Respirometry
J Vis Exp. 2023 Feb 3;(192). doi: 10.3791/64572. ABSTRACT Metabolic dysfunction of retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE) is a key pathogenic driver of retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). Since RPE are highly metabolically-active cells, alterations in their metabolic status reflect changes in their health and function. High-resolution respirometry […]
Qihuang Granule protects the retinal pigment epithelium from oxidative stress via regulation of the alternative complement pathway
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2023 Feb 18;23(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s12906-023-03884-2. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss in elderly people, and dry AMD is the most common type of AMD. Oxidative stress and alternative complement pathway activation may play essential roles in the pathogenesis of dry AMD. There are no […]
Knockout of AMD-associated gene POLDIP2 reduces mitochondrial superoxide in human retinal pigment epithelial cells
Aging (Albany NY). 2023 Feb 16;15. doi: 10.18632/aging.204522. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Genetic and epidemiologic studies have significantly advanced our understanding of the genetic factors contributing to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In particular, recent expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) studies have highlighted POLDIP2 as a significant gene that confers risk of developing AMD. However, […]
The Anti-Aging Hormone Klotho Promotes Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cell Viability and Metabolism by Activating the AMPK/PGC-1α Pathway
Antioxidants (Basel). 2023 Feb 5;12(2):385. doi: 10.3390/antiox12020385. ABSTRACT Initially discovered by Makuto Kuro-o in 1997, Klotho is a putative aging-suppressor gene when overexpressed and accelerates aging when deleted in mice. Previously, we showed that α-Klotho regulates retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) functions and protects against oxidative stress. However, the mechanisms by which Klotho influences RPE and […]
TRAP1 Is Expressed in Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells and Is Required to Maintain their Energetic Status
Antioxidants (Basel). 2023 Feb 4;12(2):381. doi: 10.3390/antiox12020381. ABSTRACT Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe vision loss and blindness in elderly people worldwide. The damage to the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) triggered by oxidative stress plays a central role in the onset and progression of AMD and results from the excessive accumulation […]
Optimisation of AAV-NDI1 Significantly Enhances Its Therapeutic Value for Correcting Retinal Mitochondrial Dysfunction
Pharmaceutics. 2023 Jan 18;15(2):322. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15020322. ABSTRACT AAV gene therapy for ocular disease has become a reality with the market authorisation of LuxturnaTM for RPE65-linked inherited retinal degenerations and many AAV gene therapies currently undergoing phase III clinical trials. Many ocular disorders have a mitochondrial involvement from primary mitochondrial disorders such as Leber hereditary optic […]
Divergent Metabolomic Signatures of TGFβ2 and TNFα in the Induction of Retinal Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Metabolites. 2023 Jan 31;13(2):213. doi: 10.3390/metabo13020213. ABSTRACT Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a dedifferentiation program in which polarized, differentiated epithelial cells lose their cell-cell adhesions and transform into matrix-producing mesenchymal cells. EMT of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells plays a crucial role in many retinal diseases, including age-related macular degeneration, proliferative vitreoretinopathy, and diabetic retinopathy. This […]