Role of crystallins in ocular neuroprotection and axonal regeneration

Publication date: September 2014 Source:Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, Volume 42 Author(s): Solon Thanos , Michael R.R. Böhm , Melissa Meyer zu Hörste , Verena Prokosch-Willing , Maren Hennig , Dirk Bauer , Arndt Heiligenhaus Neuroprotection is an emerging challenge in ophthalmology due to the particularly exposed location of retinal neurons and to the steadily increasing rate of intraocular surgical and pharmacological treatments applied to various eye diseases. Within few decades neuroprotection has developed from strongly contested approaches to being recognized and introduced as a potentially clinical application. One of the groups of putative substances for neuroprotection comprises αA- and αB-crystallins, which are types of heat-shock proteins and are considered to be molecular chaperones. The β/γ-crystallins form their own superfamily and are characterized as proteins with a distinct structure containing four Greek key motifs. Besides being abundant in the ocular lens, crystallins are also expressed in both the developing and mature retina. Crystallins are dramatically up-regulated in numerous retinal pathologies, including mechanical injury, ischemic insults, age-related macular degeneration, uveoretinitis, and diabetic retinopathy. Crystallins of the α family are thought to play a crucial role in retinal neuron survival and inflammation. Crystallins of the β/γ superfamily are also small proteins with a possible emerging role in retinal tiss...
Source: Progress in Retinal and Eye Research - Category: Opthalmology Source Type: research