Researchers in Massachusetts are reporting an advance in bridging huge gaps in medical knowledge about the biochemical changes that occur inside the eyes of individuals with diabetic retinopathy (DR) — a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in adults. In a study scheduled for the June 6 issue of ACS’ monthly
Journal of Proteome Research, they report discovery of 37 proteins that were increased or decreased in the eyes of patients with DR compared to patients without the disease.
Edward P. Feener and colleagues point out that DR is a complication of diabetes that affects the eyesight of millions of people. It involves damage to blood vessels in the retina, the light sensitive tissue in the back of the eye. Physicians know that vessels grow abnormally, swell, and leak in DR. However, they have little understanding of the biochemical changes underlying those damaging events.
The researchers studied eye fluid from individuals with and without DR who were undergoing eye surgery. They analyzed proteins in the vitreous, the gel-like material inside the eye between the retina and the lens. The study found 252 proteins in the fluid, including 37 proteins that showed changes that were associated with proliferative diabetic retinopathy, the most severe form of the disease.
The study could lead to new insights into disease mechanisms and new treatments, the article states.
Source: ACS
Related stories:
Blood vessel protein reverses macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy in mice
Two major eye diseases and leading causes of blindness—age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy—can be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells, researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine and several other institutions have announced in a new study.
'Fluorescent' cells give early warning for eye disease
Scientists at the University of Michigan have shown that their new metabolic imaging instrument can accurately detect eye disease at a very early stage. Such a device would be vision-saving because many severe eye diseases do not exhibit early warning signals before they begin to diminish vision. The testing is noninvasive and takes less than 6 minutes to administer to a patient.
Study reveals a key to blood vessel growth and possible drug target
Researchers have identified a molecular pathway that plays a critical role in the growth of blood vessels. The finding not only offers an important insight into the development of the vascular system during embryonic development but suggests a potential target for inhibiting the blood vessels that fuel cancers, diabetic eye complications and atherosclerosis, the researchers say.
New discovery may improve treatment of one of the world's leading causes of blindness
An inflammatory eye condition that is one of the world’s leading causes of blindness could be treated much more effectively and easily thanks to a new discovery here.
Manmade protein shows promise for cancer, macular degeneration
Potentially blinding blood vessel growth in the cornea resulting from eye injury or even surgery can be reduced by more than 50 percent with a new manmade protein, researchers say.
A mammalian clock protein responds directly to light
We all know that light effects the growth and development of plants, but what effect does light have on humans and animals? A new paper by Nathalie Hoang et al., published in
PLoS Biology this week, explores this question by examining cryptochromes in flies, mice, and humans. In plants, cryptochromes are photoreceptor proteins which absorb and process blue light for functions such as growth, seedling development, and leaf and stem expansion.
Molecular basis and regulation of circadian rhythms in plants
Dr. C. Robertson McClung and his colleagues are investigating the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms of circadian cycling and regulation in plants. Dr. McClung, of the Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, will be presenting this work at the President's symposium of the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists in Mérida, Mexico.
Researchers identify biofilms that cause infections
Understanding the way bacterial cells "talk" to each other could lead to more effective methods for fighting the often persistent and serious infections caused by the biofilms they form, says a Texas A&M University professor of chemical engineering who not only has deciphered their language but also discovered how to quell their conversation.
