Researchers led by a team at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have identified a novel cellular entry factor for adeno-associated virus vector (AAV) types—the most commonly used viral vectors for in vivo gene therapy. AAVs are vectors–or vehicles—that are created from a virus that is made harmless by molecular engineering, and have shown promise transporting genetic therapy treatments to affected tissues.... Read more about Researchers Uncover Mechanism for How Common Gene Therapy Vectors Enter Cells

Second-year Harvard Ophthalmology resident Noam Rudnick, MD, PhD, received the 2019 Gragoudas-Folkman Award, which will provide up to $20,000 to help fund his research on cell type-specific roles of autophagy in age-related macular degeneration.... Read more about Resident Noam Rudnick Receives Gragoudas-Folkman Award

A recent meta-analysis, led by Deeba Husain, MD, suggests that AMD patients present distinct plasma metabolomic profiles, which vary with disease severity. After analyzing blood samples of their 491 patients from two cohorts–one in Boston and one in Coimbra, Portugal–they found that metabolites differed significantly between AMD patients as compared to controls, and with various stages of the disease.... Read more about Researchers Identify Metabolomics as a Potential Tool to Improve Diagnostic and Prognostic Information on AMD

New research led by Kip Connor, PhD, finds that microglia—the primary immune cells of the central nervous system, including the retina—play a vital role in regulating neuroinflammation in autoimmune uveitis. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and featured on eyewire News, may one day lead to better treatment targets for the disease.

In the preclinical model of autoimmune uveitis, the researchers describe, for the first time, a role for microglia in directing the initiation of autoimmune uveitis by orchestrating the inflammatory response within the retina. In reaction to disease induction, microglia closely associate with the retinal vasculature and facilitate inflammatory immune cell entry past the blood brain, or ocular, barrier into the retina. When the researchers depleted microglia in this model, they observed that the disease was completely blocked.

... Read more about Mass. Eye and Ear Research Team Link Immune Cells to Uveitis