17.12.2024 Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a severe disease with a growing number of afflicted patients, which places a heavy burden on society, both socially and financially. While there are treatments available, they are not always effective and are usually administered when the disease is already at a developed stage with visible clinical manifestation. However, homeostasis at a molecular level is disrupted before visible signs of the disease are evident. There is evidence that early detection and prompt disease control are effective in preventing or slowing DR progression. Thus, there has been a constant search for effective biomarkers that could signal the onset of DR. As a possible new biomarker, we focus part of our research on retinol binding protein 3 (RBP3). We argue that it displays unique features that make it a very good biomarker for non-invasive, early-stage DR detection. Linking chemistry to biological function and focusing on new developments in eye imaging and two-photon technology test a new potential diagnostic tool that would allow rapid and effective quantification of RBP3 in the retina. Moreover, this tool would also be useful in the future to monitor therapeutic effectiveness if levels of RBP3 are elevated by DR treatments.
Homeostasis disruption upon DR progression, with decreased levels of RPB3 in the IPM with advances in the severity of DR.
Team:
Dr. Humberto Fernandes
Dr. Vineeta Kaushik
Luca Gessa
Nelam Kumar
Reference:
“Towards a new biomarker for diabetic retinopathy: exploring RBP3 structure and retinoids binding for functional imaging of eyes in vivo” (2023) V Kaushik, L Gessa, N Kumar, H Fernandes, International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24 (5), 4408.
