Project 461826

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a multifactorial neuroinflammatory disease of the aging eye precipitated by genetic and environmental risk factors. It is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the industrial world. While significant effort has been invested to understand the genetic predisposition to AMD, gene mutations that are linked to AMD do not guarantee disease and only increase the likelihood of developing it. This suggests environmental factors contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of AMD. In the proposed research, we will study how early life events that alter our body such as early life obesity, can reprogram the immune system in the eye and promote AMD in late life, even long after we have slimed down. Our findings will help devise new drugs that interfere with the memory state of the immune system in the retina. In addition, they may provide rational for developing early diagnostic tests for AMD and other neuroinflammatory diseases.