Altered photoreceptor metabolism in mouse causes late stage age-related macular degeneration-like pathologies.

ABSTRACT: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. While the histopathology of the different disease stages is well characterized, the cause underlying the progression, from the early drusen stage to the advanced macular degeneration stage that leads to blindness, remains unknown. Here, we show that photoreceptors (PRs) of diseased individuals display increased expression of two key glycolytic genes, suggestive of a glucose shortage during disease. Mimicking aspects of this metabolic profile in PRs of wild-type mice by activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) caused early drusen-like pathologies, as well as advanced AMD-like pathologies. Mice with activated mTORC1 in PRs also displayed other early disease features, such as a d

SUBMITTER: Cheng SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7293639 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature