University of Iowa researchers have been awarded funding from the National Institutes of Health to explore new ways to prevent or reduce vision loss caused by a degenerative eye disease.
Aliasger Salem, professor and associate vice president for research in the College of Pharmacy; Mark Greiner, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences in the Carver College of Medicine; and Sara Thomasy at the University of California, Davis, are lead researchers on the study, which focuses on a specific form of cell death known as ferroptosis. This process, driven by high levels of reactive iron in the cornea, is thought to play a key role in the progression of Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD), a degenerative eye disease that affects roughly 6 million people older than 40 and can lead to serious vision impairment or blindness.
In patients with FECD, excess iron in corneal cells contributes to oxidative stress and ultimately cell death that causes further issues.
The research team will examine how a known genetic risk factor — TCF4 repeat expansion — combined with environmental exposure to ultraviolet light further accelerates the onset of ferroptosis and worsens the disease. To better understand the underlying mechanisms, the team will employ a variety of advanced techniques to measure reactive oxygen species, assess cellular respiration, and model optimal therapeutic formulations.
The researchers will work to develop an eye-drop treatment using ubiquinol, a potent antioxidant form of coenzyme Q10. They aim to determine whether these eye drops can protect corneal cells from iron-induced damage and slow the progression of FECD. If successful, the treatment could offer patients a noninvasive alternative to surgery and help preserve their vision.
“This research is significant because it will clarify how genetic and environmental factors trigger premature cell death through ferroptosis in FECD and help pave the way for targeted drug therapies to prevent or delay disease progression,” Salem says.
The five-year award from the National Eye Institute is for $2.85 million.