Understanding retinal homeostasis during the progression of glaucoma

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness and is projected to affect approximately 111.8 million people worldwide by 2040, driven largely by the aging population. Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP)—the pressure generated by the aqueous humor, the fluid that flows between the cornea and the lens, is often the key symptom and major modifiable risk factor for the disease. Elevated IOP exerts pressure posteriorly and damages the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) leading to blindness. The detailed understanding of the initial trigger and the sequence of events leading to progressive loss of RGC during glaucoma is yet to be completely understood. This is because of the absence of a suitable glaucoma animal model that shows consistent correlation between increased IOP and loss of RGC.

This project has developed a novel open angle glaucoma mouse model that develops progressive glaucomatous features including elevated IOP and retinal damage. This animal model system will be used to understand the molecular events and gene expression changes in retina during the progression of glaucoma. The results from this new research program will provide findings that can be utilized to explore strategies that mitigate retinal degeneration in glaucoma.