青光眼是一组多种机制参与的以RGCs进行性丢失为特征的疾病。临床上青光眼患者的疾病进展及对降眼压治疗的反应存在明显的个体差异。MicroRNA表达谱作为疾病生物标记已经在肿瘤以及神经科学领域得到广泛研究，已证明miR-17-5p与细胞凋亡密切相关。我们的前期工作发现大鼠急性高眼压模型中存在多种microRNA表达差异，其中miR-17-5p表达降低；建立了慢性高眼压Tg-MYOCY437H转基因小鼠模型；收集了POAG病人的血液及房水样本。本课题提出科学假说：1）microRNA差异表达谱可能作为青光眼疾病进展预测的生物标记；2）miR-17-5p/Apaf-1/caspase-9通路可能参与RGCs的凋亡。本课题拟绘制microRNA差异表达谱以预测青光眼进展，研究miR-17-5p通路在青光眼视神经病变中的作用，有望对青光眼疾病进展进行精确预测，同时为青光眼干预及有效治疗寻找新的靶点。

Glaucoma is characterized by the progressive death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) which involves many mechanisms. The progression of the disease and response to treatment varied in individuals. MicroRNA is a kind of small RNAs post-transcriptionally regulating the expression of thousands of genes. Among them, miR-17-5p was closely related to apoptosis. MicroRNA profiling as a disease biomarker has been widely used in cancer and neuroscience. Our previous studies found that the expression level of many apoptosis- and inflammation-related microRNAs changed in acute ocular hypertension rat model, and that of miR-17-5p was reduced; additionally, we have the transgenic mouse (Tg-MYOCY437H) which could simulate the progression of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG); we have also collected hundreds of blood and aqueous humor samples from POAG patients. Based on the results of our previous researches, we put forward our hypothesis: 1) microRNA profiling could act as a biomarker for the prediction of glaucoma progression; 2) miR-17-5p/Apaf-1/caspase-9 may involve in loss of RGCs in glaucoma . In this study, we aim to use animal model and clinical samples to verify our hypothesis. The purpose of this study is to provide a brand new view to the pathogenesis of glaucoma and use microRNA profiling for precise analyzing of glaucoma progression.