MyoTreat: Myopia - from genes and environment to cellular responses and treatment

MyoTreat：近视 - 从基因和环境到细胞反应和治疗

• 批准号: EP/Y032292/1
• 负责人: Jeremy Guggenheim
• 金额: $ 66.43万
• 依托单位: CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FY032292%2F1
• 关键词: MyoTreat; Myopia; genes; environment; cellular

In modern industrial societies, myopia has become an important ocular health problem of young people, due to its increased incidence and associated complications, which pose a significant risk of blindness already in the middle life span. Current treatment options have limited effects with a maximum reduction of axial elongation by about 0.4 mm over several years, equivalent to a reduction in myopia by only about 1 D. Eye growth is controlled by an interplay of different biochemical pathways, one inhibitory (stimulated by image plane in front of the retina) and one stimulatory (image plane behind the retina). A novel future strategy would be to activate the inhibitory pathways rather than inhibit the growth stimulating pathways (standard target in most studies). At present, interventions to activate growth inhibition are poorly studied. The influence of environmental factors (spectral composition of ambient light) and gene-environment interactions (specific gene variants and their interaction with key lifestyle exposures) on eye growth and refractive development will be investigated. New pharmacological targets will be identified and tested, and biomarkers established to detect the onset of myopia at an earlier stage. It will be studied how choroidal hypoxia relates to choroidal thinning and axial eye growth and how it interacts with the metabolic processes in the retina and sclera. New measurement techniques will be developed that implement artificial intelligence algorithms to improve diagnostics in myopia studies, especially in the periphery of the visual field. The proposed intersectorial and interdisciplinary "MyoTreat" project (including anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, optics, and genetics) will train PhD students in myopia research and generate and disseminate novel research results. The ultimate scientific goal is to identify new strategies for myopia therapy through hypothesis-driven translational research in various animal models as well as in humans.

在现代工业社会中，近视已经成为年轻人的一个重要的眼健康问题，因为它的发病率和相关并发症的增加，已经构成了中年失明的巨大风险。目前的治疗方案效果有限，在几年内最大可将眼轴延长减少约0.4 mm，相当于近视仅减少约1D。眼睛的生长受不同生化途径的相互作用控制，一个抑制途径(由视网膜前面的图像平面刺激)和一个刺激(视网膜后面的图像平面刺激)。一种新的未来策略将是激活抑制通路，而不是抑制生长刺激通路(大多数研究的标准靶点)。目前，激活生长抑制的干预措施研究很少。将调查环境因素(环境光的光谱组成)和基因-环境相互作用(特定基因变异及其与关键生活方式暴露的相互作用)对眼睛生长和屈光发育的影响。将确定和测试新的药理靶点，并建立生物标记物以检测近视的早期发病。将研究脉络膜低氧如何与脉络膜变薄和眼轴生长有关，以及它如何与视网膜和巩膜的新陈代谢过程相互作用。将开发新的测量技术，实现人工智能算法，以提高近视研究的诊断水平，特别是在视野边缘。拟议的跨学科和跨学科的“MyoTreat”项目(包括解剖学、生理学、药理学、光学和遗传学)将培训博士生近视研究，并产生和传播新的研究成果。最终的科学目标是通过在各种动物模型和人类中进行假说驱动的翻译研究来确定近视治疗的新策略。