Raman spectroscopic evaluation of protein modification: a new, non-invasive diagnostic tool for age-related eye disease

快速，非侵入性评估老年患者眼中疾病进展的强大标志物将为识别视力丧失的风险提供一个新的和令人兴奋的基础，也许还与其他年龄相关的疾病，如白内障形成和青光眼。拟议的项目建立在科学文献、强有力的国际合作和主要初步研究结果的基础上。它将寻求建立一个坚实的基础，使用共焦拉曼显微镜和患者的光谱评估，研究化学修饰称为晚期糖基化终产物（AGEs）的眼睛。该方法是多学科的，代表了视觉科学家，物理化学家，眼科医生和验光师之间的合作。这个不寻常的团队可以为一个紧迫的研究问题提供独特的视角。该项目将确定年龄相关的风险，在患者为基础的评估年龄介导的拉曼光谱在眼组织。通过对眼睛中AGE部分的适当鉴定、定量和验证以及它们与年龄介导的病理生理学的相关性，拉曼光谱可以最终形成AMD和其他年龄相关的眼部缺陷的重要的非侵入性诊断工具。

Rapid, non-invasive evaluation of robust markers of disease progression in the eyes of aging patients would provide a novel and exciting basis for recognising risk of visual loss and perhaps also link to other age-related diseases such as cataract formation and glaucoma. The proposed project builds on knowledge from the scientific literature, strong international collaboration and key preliminary findings. It will seek to establish a firm basis for using confocal Raman microscopy and spectroscopic evaluation of patients to study chemical modifications called advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) in the eye. The approach is multidisciplinary and represents collaboration between vision scientists, physical chemists, ophthalmologists and optometrists. Together, this unusual team can offer a unique perspective on a pressing research problem. The project will ascertain age-related risk in a patient-based evaluation of AGE-mediated Raman spectra in ocular tissues. With appropriate identification, quantification and validation of AGE moieties in the eye and their correlation with age-mediated pathophysiology, Raman spectra could ultimately form an important, non-invasive diagnostic tool for AMD and other age-associated ocular defects.