Protein could reverse eye diseases

"Two of the leading causes of blindness could be reversed and even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells, researchers at the University of Utah have discovered.

The study found that the damage which occurs to the eye from age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy could be halted and turned back during experiments carried out on mice.

Published in Nature Medicine (March 16), the protein, Robo4, treated both diseases by inhibiting abnormal blood vessel growth and stabilising blood vessels to prevent leakage – two primary factors in both eye diseases.

Kang Zhang, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Utah, said: “This discovery has significant implications for developing drugs that activate Robo4 to treat AMD and diabetic retinopathy.”

The findings are the result of Professor Zhang’s and Dean Li’s, professor of internal medicine and an investigator at the University’s programme in Human Molecular Biology and Genetics, laboratories working together in a collaboration that could shorten the time required to test the approach on humans by years. The study could also aid new ways of treating other diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARA)."