Mice without a protective protein in their eyes have symptoms resembling age-related macular degeneration. According to a recent National Eye Institute (NEI) study in mice, loss of the protein pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), which protects retinal support cells, may promote age-related ch
The loss of the protein pigment epithelium-derived factor, the study discovered, is a driver of aging-related changes in the retina.
Age-related retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration , can cause blindness since the retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The new information could help develop medicines to stop AMD and other aging conditions of the retina. The research was published in the“People have called PEDF the ‘youth’ protein because it is abundant in young retinas, but it declines during aging,” said Patricia Becerra, Ph.D.
Photoreceptor cells lose the capacity to create new segments and subsequently lose the ability to detect light if the RPE is unable to supply recycled components of older outer segment tips back to them. And without the nutrients that the RPE supplies, photoreceptors die. Senescence or death of RPE cells in the retina causes vision loss in individuals with AMD or certain types of retinal dystrophies.
To examine the retinal role of PEDF, Becerra and colleagues studied a mouse model that lacks the PEDF gene . The researchers examined the cellular structure of the retina in the mouse model, finding that the RPE cell nuclei were enlarged, which may indicate changes in how the cells’The RPE cells also had turned on four genes associated with aging and cellular senescence, and levels of the PEDF receptor were significantly below normal.
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