Early Cataract Diagnosis and Therapy
The increase in life expectancy, combined with significant
advances in medicine and healthcare that support but do not cure diseases, has
led to an increase in chronic conditions associated with protein
misfolding. Cataract is one such
condition that causes clouding of the the eye lens (Dmitry Gakamsky "Tryptophan fluorescence for early evaluation of cataracts" in: Biophotonics, Tryptophan and diseases. Eds. LA Sordilo and PP Sordilo. Elsevier Academic Press, 2021, pp: 67-80. ).
The eye lens has remarkable repair mechanisms that maintain
an adequate level of transparency for the first six to seven decades of life in
healthy individuals. However, they become insufficient with age, and senile
cataract is a common occurrence in individuals from the seventh decade of life.
The discrepancy between life expectancy and the lifespan of the eye lens is
associated with the lag of evolutionary adaptation behind scientific progress.
To address this discrepancy, we are developing therapeutic
treatments to maintain the structure of the eye lens. Our ex-vivo screening platform
can be used to identify chemical compounds that slow down the rate of formation
of post-translational modifications in lens proteins preventing them from
misfolding and thereby ensuring the unchanged structure throughout the whole
life. The chemical compounds identified for cataract cure could help develop
therapies for other protein misfolding diseases, such as Alzheimer's and
Parkinson's.
