The role of integrins in the regulation of scleral remodelling during pathological myopia development

Funded Activity Summary

Myopia (short-sightedness) is due to the eye being too long. It is a common refractive disorder, affecting some 25-30% of people in developed countries, and results in blurred distance vision. Most myopia is easily corrected with spectacles or contact lenses. However a small, but significant, group of individuals (in Australia, 1-2% of people) have high degrees of myopia. These enlarged eyes impose abnormal stresses on the structures inside, particularly affecting the retina which is the light sensitive part of the eye. Any damage that occurs to the retina in these eyes is, at present, untreatable and irreversible and can result in blindness. In fact, myopia is the 2nd leading cause of blindness amongst adults of working age. In order for the eye to grow so large its white, outer coat (the sclera) must expand without allowing any leaks of the delicate structures and fluids inside. Although the sclera gets very thin as it expands, it has been shown that this process of expansion is not just due to stretching. Before any stretching can occur the biochemical structure of the sclera must change and this is a complex process, driven by the scleral cells and involving the synthesis of structural components and activity of enzymes which breakdown scleral structure. The aim of this project is to investigate the role of specific scleral proteins (integrins) in high myopia. Integrins reside on the surface of the scleral cells and communicate information about the changes going on in the surrounding sclera. We predict these proteins are important in keeping the cell informed of the local biochemical and biomechanical changes in the sclera and in driving the cell to rapidly adapt to these changes. The project will provide a greater understanding of the process of scleral thinning in high myopia and allow us to test the potential of integrins as therapeutic targets in the sclera, thereby giving us the opportunity of preventing blindness in a number of highly myopic individuals.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2003

End Date: 01-01-2005

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $234,750.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Medical virology

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

extracellular matrix | eye diseases | integrins | myopia | myopic degeneration | pathological myopia | posterior staphyloma | registered blindness | sclera | scleral thinning

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