Research: Protein Deletion Could Treat Age and Diabetes-Induced Eye Diseases

Researchers at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit say they have provided evidence that depletion of a certain protein in the body can treat age and diabetes-induced retinal diseases, according to a university news release. 

The protein, called vascular cell adhesion molecule, or VCAM1, intercedes the adhesion of white bloods cells’ lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils to vascular endothelium and induces pathological retinal angiogenesis, which can lead to blindness. VCAM1 has been linked to cancer. Diabetic patients have a high quantity of the molecule in their eyes.

Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences Nikhlesh Singh, PhD, is the principal investigator on the project.

The open-access findings, “Vascular cell-adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) regulates JunB-mediated IL-8/CXCL1 expression and pathological neovascularization,” are published in this month’s issue of Communication Biology, a journal by Nature Press. The university news release can be found here.