Extracellular vesicles released by human retinal pigment epithelium mediate increased polarised secretion of drusen proteins in response to AMD stressors.

ABSTRACT: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Drusen are key contributors to the etiology of AMD and the ability to modulate drusen biogenesis could lead to therapeutic strategies to slow or halt AMD progression. The mechanisms underlying drusen biogenesis, however, remain mostly unknown. Here we demonstrate that under homeostatic conditions extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells are enriched in proteins associated with mechanisms involved in AMD pathophysiology, including oxidative stress, immune response, inflammation, complement system and drusen composition. Furthermore, we provide first evidence that drusen-associated proteins are released as cargo of extracellular vesicles secreted by RPE cells in a polarise

SUBMITTER: Flores-Bellver M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8575963 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature