New research with mice suggests aging is an important component of retinal ganglion cell death in glaucoma.
The researchers also report that novel pathways can be targeted when designing new treatments for glaucoma patients.
The study appears in Aging Cell.
The research describes the transcriptional and epigenetic changes happening in aging retina. The team shows how stress, such as intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation in the eye, causes retinal tissue to undergo epigenetic and transcriptional changes similar to natural aging. They also show how in young retinal tissue repetitive stress induces features of accelerated aging including the accelerated epigenetic age.
Aging is a universal process that affects all cells in an organism. In the eye, it is a major risk factor for a group of neuropathies called glaucoma. Because of the increase in aging populations worldwide, current estimates show that the number of people with glaucoma (aged 40-80) will increase to over 110 million in 2040….