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 […]

Enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis promotes neuroprotection in human pluripotent stem cell derived retinal ganglion cells

Commun Biol. 2023 Feb 24;6(1):218. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-04576-w. ABSTRACT Mitochondrial dysfunctions are widely afflicted in central nervous system (CNS) disorders with minimal understanding on how to improve mitochondrial homeostasis to promote neuroprotection. Here we have used human stem cell differentiated retinal ganglion cells (hRGCs) of the CNS, which are highly sensitive towards mitochondrial dysfunctions due to […]

Quantitative Proteomics of Human Retinal Pigment Epithelium Reveals Key Regulators for the Pathogenesis of Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb 7;24(4):3252. doi: 10.3390/ijms24043252. ABSTRACT Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in elderly people, with limited treatment options available for most patients. AMD involves the death of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptor cells, with mitochondria dysfunction being a critical early event. In the current study, […]

Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Pathogenesis Underlying Inherited Retinal Dystrophies

Biomolecules. 2023 Feb 1;13(2):271. doi: 10.3390/biom13020271. ABSTRACT Inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) are congenital retinal degenerative diseases that have various inheritance patterns, including dominant, recessive, X-linked, and mitochondrial. These diseases are most often the result of defects in rod and/or cone photoreceptor and retinal pigment epithelium function, development, or both. The genes associated with these diseases, […]

Mitochondria-Targeted Curcumin: A Potent Antibacterial Agent against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus with a Possible Intracellular ROS Accumulation as the Mechanism of Action

Antibiotics (Basel). 2023 Feb 16;12(2):401. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics12020401. ABSTRACT Mitocurcumin (a triphenylphosphonium curcumin derivative) was previously reported as a selective antitumoral compound on different cellular lines, as well as a potent bactericidal candidate. In this study, the same compound showed strong antimicrobial efficacy against different strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The minimum inhibitory concentration was […]