Neuroretinal hypoxic signaling in a new preclinical murine model for proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Scientists in the USA have developed a mouse model to study blindness in humans. Stephen Tsang at Columbia University Medical Center, together with collaborators across the country, aimed to clarify the mechanisms of the key symptoms of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), the leading cause of blindness in Americans aged 20 to 64. Vinit Mahajan at the University of Iowa discovered high levels of a transcription factor in samples from the eyes of PDR patients but not in those who had been successfully treated. To create a useful animal model, the scientists genetically engineered mice to inactivate the repressor of the transcription factor in retinal neurons. The mice developed a retinal disease that advances in the same way as PDR in humans. This animal model is expected to improve understanding of PDR and other diseases.