PEDP is a protein pigment epithelium-derived factor, which safeguards retinal support cells, and the loss of it may hasten age-related alterations in the retina, highlights a recent National Eye Institute (NEI) research.
That being said, age-related macular degeneration-like symptoms can be seen in mice lacking a protective protein in their eyes.
Read out all the intriguing facts below.
Aging vs. Youth: New Data Revealed
An older retina may change more quickly if the PEDP is lost, suggests recent research. And with that, some things won’t ever be the same!
Given that the retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye, age-related retinal illnesses such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can, unfortunately, result in blindness. The newly discovered facts could aid in creating drugs to halt AMD and other age-related retina disorders.
To understand the matter, Patricia Becerra, Ph.D., author of the study and chief of NEI’s Section of Protein Structure and Function, explains:
[…] This study showed for the first time that just removing PEDF leads to a host of gene changes that mimic aging in the retina.
Check out below the obtained data:
Using confocal microscopy, while-type (upper) and another thing called Serpin1-null (lower) mice’s RPE tissue was seen at extreme resolution. Also, the RPE tissue depicted on the left is enlarged in the detailed photos on the right (see dotted square area).
You can also see some green in the picture; that’s the accumulating lipids, while the RPE cell borders are red. Quite impressive!
Moreover, suppose the RPE cannot provide recycled parts of older outer segment tips back to photoreceptor cells. In that case, they lose the ability to develop new segments and eventually lose the ability to detect light.
And that’s not all.
Additionally, photoreceptors degenerate without the nutrients that the RPE provides. Individuals with AMD or some retinal dystrophies have a visual loss due to the death of RPE cells in the retina or senescence (aging).
[the study], indicates the loss of PEDF is a driver of aging-related changes in the retina, added Becerra.