New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Progress Understanding Vision Loss Due To Abnormal Network Of Blood Vessels In The Eye

Date:
August 22, 2007
Source:
Journal of Clinical Investigation
Summary:
Many millions of individuals worldwide suffer from vision loss as a result of the formation of an abnormal network of blood vessels in the eye. This abnormal blood vessel network forms in response to damage to the retina and often occurs in individuals who are diabetic. Understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling the development of the network of blood vessels in the retina under normal and pathological conditions is therefore an area of intensive research.
Share:
FULL STORY

Many millions of individuals worldwide suffer from vision loss as a result of the formation of an abnormal network of blood vessels in the eye. This abnormal blood vessel network forms in response to damage to the retina and often occurs in individuals who are diabetic. Understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling the development of the network of blood vessels in the retina under normal and pathological conditions is therefore an area of intensive research.

In a study appearing online on August 16, in advance of publication in the September print issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Timothy Hla and colleagues from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, show that under normal conditions, blood vessel development is indistinguishable in wild-type mice and in mice lacking a protein known as sphingosine -1-phosphate receptor 2 (S1P2R). By contrast, damage to the retina, in the form of low levels of oxygen, induces the formation of an abnormal network of blood vessels in the eyes of wild-type mice, but not in the eyes of S1P2R-deficient mice.

The absence of pathological blood vessel formation in S1P2R-deficient mice was associated with decreased inflammatory cell infiltration of the retina and decreased expression of the proinflammatory enzyme cyclooxygenase-2. This demonstration that S1P2R-driven inflammation is an important event in pathological blood vessel formation in the eye led the authors to suggest that inhibiting S1P2R activation in the retina might provide a new therapeutic approach to treating diseases of the eye caused by the presence of an abnormal blood vessel network.

Article: Essential role of sphingosine -1- phosphate receptor 2 in pathological angiogenesis of the mouse retina


Story Source:

Materials provided by Journal of Clinical Investigation. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

Journal of Clinical Investigation. "Progress Understanding Vision Loss Due To Abnormal Network Of Blood Vessels In The Eye." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 August 2007. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070818084751.htm>.
Journal of Clinical Investigation. (2007, August 22). Progress Understanding Vision Loss Due To Abnormal Network Of Blood Vessels In The Eye. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070818084751.htm
Journal of Clinical Investigation. "Progress Understanding Vision Loss Due To Abnormal Network Of Blood Vessels In The Eye." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070818084751.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES