title: One protein, multiple pathologies: multifaceted involvement of amyloid β in neurodegenerative disorders of the brain and retina.
abstract: Accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) and its aggregates in the ageing central nervous system is regarded synonymous to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Despite unquestionable advances in mechanistic and diagnostic aspects of the disease understanding, the primary cause of Aβ accumulation as well as its in vivo roles remains elusive; nonetheless, the majority of the efforts to address pathological mechanisms for therapeutic development are focused towards moderating Aβ accumulation in the brain. More recently, Aβ deposition has been identified in the eye and is linked with distinct age-related diseases including age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma as well as AD. Awareness of the Aβ accumulation in these markedly different degenerative disorders has led to an increasing body of work exploring overlapping mechanisms, a prospective biomarker role for Aβ and the potential to use retina as a model for brain related neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we present an integrated view of current understanding of the retinal Aβ deposition discussing the accumulation mechanisms, anticipated impacts and outlining ameliorative approaches that can be extrapolated to the retina for potential therapeutic benefits. Further longitudinal investigations in humans and animal models will determine retinal Aβ association as a potential pathognomonic, diagnostic or prognostic biomarker.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia. v.gupta@ecu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Veer B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Nitin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chitranshi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Sumudu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gangoda
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Roshana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vander Wall
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Mojdeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Golzan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Yogita
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dheer
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Tejal
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Avolio
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.|Save Sight Institute, Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Graham
mesh_terms: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D066329:Protein Aggregates; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D066329:Protein Aggregates
keywords: Electroretinogram; Inflammation; Metal ions; Mitochondrial impairment; Neurotrophic factors; Optical coherence tomography; Oxidative stress; Protein aggregation; Vascular dysfunction