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Abstract #48741 Published in IGR 14-1
Mitochondrial dysfunction in glaucoma: understanding genetic influences
Lascaratos G; Garway-Heath DF; Willoughby CE; Chau KY; Schapira AHMitochondrion 2012; 12: 202-212
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. This review aims to provide a greater understanding of the complex genetic influences that may lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and increase susceptibility to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), and thus elucidate potentially important pathophysiological pathways amenable to therapeutic intervention. Emerging evidence from genome wide association and other genetic studies suggests that changes in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and in nuclear DNA genes that encode mitochondrial proteins may influence mitochondrial structure and function and, therefore, contribute to the pathogenesis of POAG. We propose that a variety of genes (OPA1, MFN1, MFN2, CYP1B1, PARL, SOD2, SRBD1, GST, NOS3, TNFa and TP53) may each confer a background susceptibility to POAG in different populations having one common link: mitochondrial dysfunction. The relationship between polymorphisms in these genes and increasing risk for POAG is presented and the limitations of the available current knowledge are discussed.
NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London EC1V 2PD, UK. glascaratos@gmail.com
Full articleClassification:
3.6 Cellular biology (Part of: 3 Laboratory methods)
3.4.2 Gene studies (Part of: 3 Laboratory methods > 3.4 Molecular genetics)
