TY - JOUR
T1 - A glimpse at the aging eye
AU - Lin, Jonathan B.
AU - Tsubota, Kazuo
AU - Apte, Rajendra S.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by NIH Grant R01EY019287 (RSA), NIH Grant P30EY002687, a Carl Marshall Reeves and Mildred Almen Reeves Foundation Award (RSA), a Research to Prevent Blindness Physician Scientist Award (RSA), an Unrestricted Grant from Research to Prevent Blindness to the Washington University Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and the Schulak Family Gift Fund. JBL was supported by the Washington University in St Louis Medical Scientist Training Program (NIH Grant T32GM07200), the Washington University in St Louis Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (NIH Grants UL1TR000448, TL1TR000449), the Washington University Diabetic Cardiovascular Disease Center, and the American Federation for Aging Research. The authors acknowledge Andrea Santeford and Arsham Sheybani, MD, for assisting with figures.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Japanese Society of Anti-Aging Medicine/Macmillan Publishers Limited.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Extensive investigations have demonstrated that organismal aging is associated with tissue dysfunction in many organs. The eye is no exception to this rule. Under healthy conditions, the eye is designed like an advanced camera with the central role of translating light from the external world into a coherent neural signal that can be transmitted to the brain for processing into a precise visual image. This complex process requires precisely maintained machinery. At the front of the eye, the transparency of both the cornea and the lens are crucial to allow passage of photons to the light-sensitive portion of the eye. Similarly, the highly organized structure of the retina located at the back of the eye is indispensable to allow for effective signal transduction and efficient signal transmission. Aging affects ocular structures in various ways, and these sequelae have been well defined as distinct clinical entities. In many instances, aging leads to ocular tissue dysfunction and disease. Nonetheless, despite clear evidence that age-associated visual impairment has significant psychosocial consequences, current treatment paradigms for many of these conditions are inadequate. In addition, strategies to decelerate or reverse age-associated deterioration in ocular function are still in their infancy. This review focuses on the cellular and molecular pathophysiology of the aging eye. Ultimately, we hope that a refined understanding of the aging eye can guide targeted therapies against cellular aging and disease.
AB - Extensive investigations have demonstrated that organismal aging is associated with tissue dysfunction in many organs. The eye is no exception to this rule. Under healthy conditions, the eye is designed like an advanced camera with the central role of translating light from the external world into a coherent neural signal that can be transmitted to the brain for processing into a precise visual image. This complex process requires precisely maintained machinery. At the front of the eye, the transparency of both the cornea and the lens are crucial to allow passage of photons to the light-sensitive portion of the eye. Similarly, the highly organized structure of the retina located at the back of the eye is indispensable to allow for effective signal transduction and efficient signal transmission. Aging affects ocular structures in various ways, and these sequelae have been well defined as distinct clinical entities. In many instances, aging leads to ocular tissue dysfunction and disease. Nonetheless, despite clear evidence that age-associated visual impairment has significant psychosocial consequences, current treatment paradigms for many of these conditions are inadequate. In addition, strategies to decelerate or reverse age-associated deterioration in ocular function are still in their infancy. This review focuses on the cellular and molecular pathophysiology of the aging eye. Ultimately, we hope that a refined understanding of the aging eye can guide targeted therapies against cellular aging and disease.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84989877172&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/npjamd.2016.3
DO - 10.1038/npjamd.2016.3
M3 - Article
C2 - 28721262
AN - SCOPUS:84989877172
SN - 2056-3973
VL - 2
JO - npj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease
JF - npj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease
IS - 1
M1 - 16003
ER -