FRO 2014: Potential implications of epigenetic changes in human retinal pigmented epithelium during diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major cause of blindness. Prevention of DR is mainly based on control glycaemia however in vivo and in vitro evidences demonstrate that vascular complications can occur despite adequate glycemic control due to a process called “metabolic memory”. One of the very new hypothesis to explain the metabolic memory involves epigenetic modifications that prevent retinal cells from returning to their physiological status even when the exposure to stimuli has ceased. Our goal is to study in vitro the egigenic modifications of human retinal pigment epithelium ( hRPE) in response to glucose in order to identify new therapeutic targets for diabetic retinopathy. Studies of the epigenetic field, represents an original new approach with consistent and applicable methodology to investigate these mechanisms.