In a study funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers from Oregon Health & Science University have identified molecular causes for posterior capsule opacification (PCO) — or secondary cataract — suggesting a direction for research into strategies to prevent it.
Researchers reportedly cultured purified embryonic chick lens cells to determine the effects of various growth factors on cell differentiation. They found adding active growth factor TGF-beta to their culture system induced the lens epithelial cells to differentiate into either myofibroblasts or lens fiber cells, while adding a TGF-beta inhibitor reduced differentiation. Additionally, the presence of TGF-beta was reportedly associated with the migration of lens cells, a requirement for accumulation at the back of the lens capsule and secondary cataract.
The investigators also reportedly used their lens culture system to test drugs for their ability to block PCO, and found the multikinase inhibitor rebastinib — a drug that is currently in phase I clinical trials for cancer — prevented TGF-beta from inducing cell migration as well as the formation of myofibroblasts in both chick lens cells and in rat lens explants.
The study was recently published in the journal Molecular Biology of the Cell.
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Source: National Eye Institute