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

快速、无创地评估老年患者眼睛疾病进展的稳健标志物，将为识别视力丧失的风险提供一种新颖而令人兴奋的基础，或许还能与其他与年龄相关的疾病（如白内障形成和青光眼）联系起来。拟议的项目建立在科学文献的知识、强有力的国际合作和关键的初步发现的基础上。它将寻求建立一个坚实的基础，使用共聚焦拉曼显微镜和患者的光谱评估来研究眼睛中被称为晚期糖基化终产物（AGEs）的化学修饰。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。总之，这个不同寻常的团队可以为一个紧迫的研究问题提供一个独特的视角。该项目将在基于患者的眼部组织中年龄介导的拉曼光谱评估中确定与年龄相关的风险。通过适当的识别、量化和验证眼睛中AGE部分及其与年龄介导的病理生理的相关性，拉曼光谱最终可能成为AMD和其他年龄相关眼部缺陷的重要、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.