Investigating RPE Cell Response to Physical Phenomena

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Waste accumulation and blood vessel growth, known as angiogenesis, in the retina can lead to irreversible vision impairment or blindness. Current treatments, however, only slow the progression and can vary in cost and effectiveness. Furthermore, treatments are often only administered after symptoms begin. The goal of this research is to engineer retinal models to gain a better understanding of AMD. Two common characteristics of AMD are retinal cell-cell detachment and mechanical strain, or pressure, on the cell layer. Commonly used methods or commercial methods fail to recapitulate key aspects of detachment or strain. As such, to model these phenomena, representative cells were isolated from porcine eyes and used in novel, tissue engineered models. An increase in angiogenic proteins occurred with varying levels of cell-cell detachment, with more angiogenic secretion at higher levels of detachment. However, with low amounts of strain, angiogenic proteins were not immediately affected. Interestingly, genetic expression of an Alzheimer’s-linked protein changed with low amounts of strain, indicating a potential connection between brain and eye health. These results show that physical changes to the RPE affect retinal health and disease progression.