MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matthew Campbell, PhD Smurfit Institute of Genetics Trinity College Dublin Dublin MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common form of central retinal blindness in the world. However the underlying causes and initiating factors for disease progression are still not clear. It is classically a disease of the outer retina, where cells called retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells degenerate. However, our findings suggest that some of the early initiating events that promote AMD progression are actually coming from the inner retina and more specifically the microvasculature of the inner retina. We discovered that a gene called claudin-5 appears to be regulated by a circadian rhythm that in turn can regulate what gets into and out of the retina on a daily basis. Dysregulating the levels of this component made the inner retinal blood vessels marginally leaky and promoted a pathology that was AMD-like in animal models.  We also showed that the blood vessels of the retina appear to be highly dynamic in human subjects and can appear leakier at different times of the day, likely a mechanism that allows for clearance and replenishment of material into and out of the retina.  It is this process we believe breaks down in early AMD.  (more…)