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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of legal blindness in the elderly in developed countries, and is a leading cause of blindness worldwide.  The typical American diet is low in nutritional factors that may reduce the risk or severity of AMD. The goal of this project is to determine whether being deprived of these nutrients has consequences for the development of AMD, and to determine the mechanisms by which this occurs. Results from these studies will provide direct evidence for the importance of these nutritional factors in maintaining retinal health and preventing advanced retinal disease, and may reveal new options for therapeutic intervention.

This project uses viral gene therapy in mice to repair genetic defects that lead to AMD like pathology.

This proposal tests the hypothesis that cellular interactions between retinal microglia and retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells in the context of aging induce cellular changes at the retinochoroidal interface that promote the progression and advancement of AMD. Elucidating what intercellular communications drive disease pathogenesis will clarify the cell biology of AMD and may discover therapeutic targets for treatment and prevention.

A protein related to Alzheimer's disease is known to be present in cases of AMD. This proposal will examine a toxic product of this protein and ask whether it is involved in the development of AMD.

This study will characterize two new genetic risk factors related to wet and dry AMD

This project will test the hypothesis that abnormal metabolism of vitamin A and its derivatives could lead to overt activation of the immune complement system. It will test this hypothesis using a well established animal model of macular defects. They will investigate the biochemical and molecular mechanisms used by the retina to deal with abnormal build-up of vitamin A-based toxic compounds.

We are trying to determine how genes modify the risk of developing AMD. There is evidence that gene regulation is important, and we propose to study one aspect of this.

Age-related macular degeneration is a multifaceted degenerative retinal disease involving complex pathologic pathways, and it so far incurable. We have identified a new signaling pathway that will block multiple pathologic pathways implicated in AMD and promote endogenous protective pathway. The overall goals of this proposed research to study the protective mechanism of this new signaling pathway and its downstream target gene, and to test their therapeutic efficacy in animal models of AMD. 

The immune system is involved in the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The objective of this project is to identify molecular targets of the immune response in AMD. The large set of antibodies circulating in blood will be comprehensively analyzed to identify antibodies that occur in AMD, and that will allow us to identify organisms from the environment that produce antibodies present in individuals with AMD.