Hypoxic drive caused type 3 neovascularization in a preclinical model of exudative age-related macular degeneration.

ABSTRACT: Hypoxia associated with the high metabolic demand of rods has been implicated in the pathology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of adult blindness in the developed world. The majority of AMD-associated severe vision loss cases are due to exudative AMD, characterized by neovascularization. To further investigate the causes and histopathology of exudative AMD, we conditionally induced hypoxia in a novel preclinical AMD model (Pde6gcreERT2/+;Vhl-/-) by targeting Vhl and used multimodal imaging and immunohistochemistry to track the development of hypoxia-induced neovascularization. In addition to developing a preclinical model that phenocopies exudative AMD, our studies revealed that the photoreceptor hypoxic response initiates and drives type 3 neovascularizati

SUBMITTER: Zhang L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7275777 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature