Researchers discover potential therapeutic target for degenerative eye disease

Akt2 upregulation triggers lysosomal dysfunction and an AMD-like phenotype in mice. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50500-z Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered the source of dysfunction in the process whereby cells in the eye’s retina remove waste. A report by scientists at NIH and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, details how alterations in a factor called AKT2 affect the function of organelles called lysosomes and results in the production of deposits in the retina called drusen, a hallmark sign of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). According to the researchers, the findings suggest drusen formation is a Read More