1. Emerging roles of transforming growth factor β signaling in wet age-related macular degeneration
- Author
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Ruipu Sun, Ying Ying, Haoran Li, Kai Wang, Yunfei Luo, Chaxian Liu, and Shuhua Fu
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,genetic structures ,Angiogenesis ,Biophysics ,Angiogenesis Inhibitors ,Inflammation ,Biochemistry ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Immune system ,Transforming Growth Factor beta ,Fibrosis ,Humans ,Medicine ,business.industry ,General Medicine ,Macular degeneration ,medicine.disease ,Choroidal Neovascularization ,eye diseases ,030104 developmental biology ,Choroidal neovascularization ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Disease Progression ,Wet Macular Degeneration ,Cancer research ,Cytokines ,sense organs ,Inflammation Mediators ,medicine.symptom ,Signal transduction ,business ,Signal Transduction ,Transforming growth factor - Abstract
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the major causes of irreversible blindness among aging populations in developed countries and can be classified as dry or wet according to its progression. Wet AMD, which is characterized by angiogenesis on the choroidal membrane, is uncommonly seen but more severe. Controlling or completely inhibiting the factors that contribute to the progression of events that lead to angiogenesis may be an effective strategy for treating wet AMD. Emerging evidence has shown that transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling plays a significant role in the progression of wet AMD. In this review, we described the roles of and changes in TGF-β signaling in the development of AMD and discussed the mechanisms of the TGF-β superfamily in choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and wet AMD, including the modulation of angiogenesis-related factors, inflammation, vascular fibrosis, and immune responses, as well as cross-talk with other signaling pathways. These remarkable findings indicate that TGF-β signaling is a potential target for wet AMD treatment.
- Published
- 2018