{"78611":{"#nid":"78611","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Focus on Glaucoma Origins Continues Path Toward Potential Cure","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGlaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness. Nearly 4\nmillion Americans have the disorder, which affects 70 million worldwide. There\nis no cure and no early symptoms. Once vision is lost, it\u2019s permanent. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ENew findings at Georgia Tech, published in January during Glaucoma\nAwareness Month, explore one of the many molecular origins of glaucoma and\nadvance research dedicated to fighting the disease. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGlaucoma is typically triggered when fluid is unable to\ncirculate freely through the eye\u2019s trabecular meshwork (TM) tissue. Intraocular\npressure rises and damages the retina and optic nerve, which causes vision loss.\nIn certain cases of glaucoma, this blockage results from a build-up of the\nprotein myocilin. Georgia Tech Chemistry and Biochemistry Assistant Professor\nRaquel Lieberman focused on examining the structural properties of these myocilin\ndeposits. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe were surprised to discover that both genetically defected\nas well as normal, or wild-type (WT), myocilin are readily triggered to produce\nvery stable fibrous residue containing a pathogenic material called amyloid,\u201d\nsaid Lieberman, whose work \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0022283611013052\u0022\u003Ewas published\u003C\/a\u003E in the most recent \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Molecular Biology\u003C\/em\u003E. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmyloid formation, in which a protein is converted from its\nnormal form into fibers, is recognized as a major contributor to numerous\nnon-ocular disorders, including Alzheimer\u2019s, certain forms of diabetes and Mad\nCow disease (in cattle). Scientists are currently studying ways to destroy\namyloid fibrils as an option for treating these diseases. Further research,\nbased on Lieberman\u2019s findings, could potentially result in drugs that prevent\nor stop myocilin amyloid formation or destroy existing fibrils in glaucoma\npatients. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUntil this point, amyloids linked to glaucoma had been\nrestricted to the retinal area. In those cases, amyloids kill retina cells,\nleading to vision loss, but don\u2019t affect intraocular pressure. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe amyloid-containing myocilin deposits we discovered kill\ncells that maintain the integrity of TM tissue,\u201d said Lieberman. \u201cIn addition\nto debris from dead cells, the fibrils themselves may also form an obstruction\nin the TM tissue. Together, these mechanisms may hasten the increase of\nintraocular pressure that impairs vision.\u201d \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETogether with her research team, Lieberman produced WT and\ngenetically defected myocilin variants that had been documented in patients who\ndevelop glaucoma in childhood or early adulthood. The experiments were\nconducted in collaboration with Georgia Tech Biology Professor Ingeborg Schmidt-Krey\nand Stanford Genetics Professor Douglas Vollrath. Three Georgia Tech\nstudents also participated in the research: Susan Orwig (Ph.D. graduate,\nChemistry and Biochemistry), Chris Perry (current undergraduate, Biochemistry)\nand Laura Kim (master\u0027s graduate, Biology).\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe National Institutes of Health (award number\nR01EY021205 from the National Eye Institute) funded the research. The content\nis solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent\nthe official views of the National Eye Institute or the National Institutes of\nHealth.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Findings Advance Glaucoma Research"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGlaucoma is typically triggered when fluid is unable to\ncirculate freely through the eye\u2019s trabecular meshwork (TM) tissue. Intraocular\npressure rises and damages the retina and optic nerve, which causes vision loss.\nIn certain cases of glaucoma, this blockage results from a build-up of the\nprotein myocilin. Georgia Tech Chemistry and Biochemistry Assistant Professor\nRaquel Lieberman focused on examining the structural properties of these myocilin\ndeposits. She was surprised to discover that both genetically\ndefected as well as normal, or wild-type (WT), myocilin are readily triggered\nto produce very stable fibrous residue containing a pathogenic material called\namyloid.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New findings at Georgia Tech explore one of the many molecular origins of glaucoma and advance research dedicated to fighting the disease."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2012-01-17 10:54:43","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:57","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-01-17T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-01-17T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"78581":{"id":"78581","type":"image","title":"Raquel Lieberman","body":null,"created":"1449178063","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:43","changed":"1475894691","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:51","alt":"Raquel Lieberman","file":{"fid":"193873","name":"raquel_lieberman.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/raquel_lieberman_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/raquel_lieberman_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":421808,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/raquel_lieberman_0.jpg?itok=R4p2f0zS"}},"78591":{"id":"78591","type":"image","title":"Amyloid fibril formations","body":null,"created":"1449178063","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:43","changed":"1475894691","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:51","alt":"Amyloid fibril formations","file":{"fid":"193874","name":"fibrils.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fibrils_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fibrils_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":89970,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/fibrils_0.jpg?itok=_RqHUuAZ"}}},"media_ids":["78581","78591"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Sciences"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0022283611013052","title":"Read the full report"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/Lieberman\/","title":"Raquel Lieberman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"17401","name":"Glaucoma"},{"id":"10858","name":"Raquel Lieberman"},{"id":"166928","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}