Neovascularization in the eye is the most common cause of blindness in all age groups; retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration. Despite current advances in surgical treatments, ROP remains as the most serious problem of vision loss in children. Here, we report that homoisoflavanone, a natural product from Cremastra appendiculata, significantl...

Ischemic retinopathies (IRs), such as retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and (in many cases) age-related macular degeneration (AMD), are ocular disorders characterized by an initial phase of microvascular changes that results in ischemia, followed by a second phase of abnormal neovascularization that may culminate into retinal detachment and blindness. IRs are complex ...

Vascular permeability and neovascularization are implicated in many diseases including retinopathies and diabetic wound healing. Robo4 is an endothelial-specific transmembrane receptor that stabilizes the vasculature, as shown in Robo4-/- mice that develop hyperpermeability, but how Robo4 signals remained unclear. Here we show that Robo4 deletion enhances permeability and revascularization in o...

We have previously identified ligands from combinatorial peptide libraries that target tumor vasculature after in vivo selection. These ligands bind to differentially expressed receptors in angiogenic vasculature such as alpha(v)beta3/alpha(v)beta5 integrins, aminopeptidase N, and aminopeptidase A. We hypothesized that we can use these ligands to target angiogenic vasculature in retinopathies. ...

PURPOSE Prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs) are oxygen sensors that stabilize hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) to induce proinflammatory, vasopermeability, and proapoptotic factors. These may be potential targets to reduce the complications of ischemic retinopathies. METHODS Oxygen-induced ischemic retinopathy (OIR) was generated as a model for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by placing 7-day-old mic...

The identification of autoantibodies during the course of a disease has been shown to be useful in making a diagnosis, understanding mechanisms of pathogenesis, identifying therapeutic strategies, and monitoring treatments. Numerous examples of the utility of autoantibody detection are seen in both systemic and organ-specific diseases. The topic of immunemediated vision loss, with an emphasis o...