'Robo4' Gene May Unlock Cure for Blinding Conditions
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (PDR) are two leading causes of permanent vision loss. Their clinical presentations and their causes are very different. Even so, both severe eye disorders share one important feature: an abnormal proliferation of weepy blood vessels that leads to hemorrhage, inflammation, membrane formation and progressive retinal obliteration.
Until recently both AMD and PDR were treated in similar fashion: perform photographic studies to document new vessel growth followed by laser treatments to temporarily arrest the new vessels. The above photo shows what the retina looks like after hundreds of therapeutic laser spots have been applied. It was a real cat-and-mouse game. Injectable medications have recently been FDA-approved for AMD and many patients do enjoy a vigorous response. Neither laser or injectable anti-vessel drugs are permanent cures.
According to recent findings published in the journal Nature Medicine, there may be an easier and more effective way to protect the eye from these ambitious new blood vessels.
Vision researchers from numerous teaching centers collaborated in the discovery of a natural protein expressed by a strip of DNA called the 'Robo4' gene. When activated, Robo4 deactivates the powerful chemical signals that stimulate growth of those leaky blood vessels.
According to a press release from the host laboratory at the University of Utah:
The researchers tested the power of Robo4 in mice eyes because they are very similar to human eyes. They successfully demonstrated that Robo4 activation curbed new vessel development.
It is theorized that some type of gene therapy involving Robo4 could be prescribed for humans at-risk for either AMD or PDR - perhaps an injection or an eyedrop. Lengthy clinical studies must prove that Robo4 treatment is safe and effective, so it will be years before it could be available to AMD and PDR patients. Impatience aside, if Robo4 can deliver as promised a huge number of adults could be spared permanent visual disability.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: Robo 4, blindness, AMD, macualr degeneration, PDR, diabetic retinopathy, vision
Until recently both AMD and PDR were treated in similar fashion: perform photographic studies to document new vessel growth followed by laser treatments to temporarily arrest the new vessels. The above photo shows what the retina looks like after hundreds of therapeutic laser spots have been applied. It was a real cat-and-mouse game. Injectable medications have recently been FDA-approved for AMD and many patients do enjoy a vigorous response. Neither laser or injectable anti-vessel drugs are permanent cures.
According to recent findings published in the journal Nature Medicine, there may be an easier and more effective way to protect the eye from these ambitious new blood vessels.
Vision researchers from numerous teaching centers collaborated in the discovery of a natural protein expressed by a strip of DNA called the 'Robo4' gene. When activated, Robo4 deactivates the powerful chemical signals that stimulate growth of those leaky blood vessels.
According to a press release from the host laboratory at the University of Utah:
"Many diseases are caused by injury or inflammation destabilizing blood vessels and causing them to leak fluid into adjacent tissues as well. We found a natural pathway - the Robo4 pathway - that counterattacks this by stabilizing blood vessels. Robo4 tells the vessels not to grow, to stabilize, not to explore. The blood vessels have an instruction system that tells them to do the opposite, to stabilize. This is a major breakthrough in an area where the advances have been minimal. We are excited about taking this opening and moving the frontier forward with real hope for patients who have but few, often disappointing, options."
The researchers tested the power of Robo4 in mice eyes because they are very similar to human eyes. They successfully demonstrated that Robo4 activation curbed new vessel development.
It is theorized that some type of gene therapy involving Robo4 could be prescribed for humans at-risk for either AMD or PDR - perhaps an injection or an eyedrop. Lengthy clinical studies must prove that Robo4 treatment is safe and effective, so it will be years before it could be available to AMD and PDR patients. Impatience aside, if Robo4 can deliver as promised a huge number of adults could be spared permanent visual disability.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: Robo 4, blindness, AMD, macualr degeneration, PDR, diabetic retinopathy, vision