Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a blinding eye disease which incidence gradually increases with age. Inflammation participates in AMD pathogenesis, including choroidal neovascularization and geographic atrophy. It is also a kind of self-protective regulation from injury for the eyes. In this review, we described inflammation in AMD pathogenesis, summarized the roles played by inflammation-related cytokines, including pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, as well as leukocytes (macrophages, dendritic cells, neutrophils, T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes) in the innate or adaptive immunity in AMD. Possible clinical applications such as potential diagnostic biomarkers and anti-inflammatory therapies were also discussed. This review overviews the inflammation as a target of novel effective therapies in treating AMD.

Retinal neovascularization is a complication which caused human vision loss severely. It has been shown that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play essential roles in gene regulation. However, circRNA expression profile and the underlying mechanisms in retinal neovascular diseases remain unclear. In the present study, we identified altered circRNAs in the retinas of oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) mouse model by microarray profiling. Microarray analysis revealed that 539 circRNAs were significantly altered in OIR retinas compared with controls. Among them, 185 up-regulated and 354 down-regulated circRNAs were identified. The expression levels of 4 altered circRNAs including mmu_circRNA_002573, mmu_circRNA_011180, mmu_circRNA_016108 and mmu_circRNA_22546 were validated by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Bioinformatic analysis with validated circRNAs such as competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory networks with Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis demonstrated that qRT-PCR validated circRNAs were associated with cellular process, cell part and phosphoric ester hydrolase activity. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis demonstrated that MAPK signaling pathway and renin-angiotensin system were related to validated circRNAs, suggesting these pathways may participate in pathological angiogenesis. The results together suggested that circRNAs were aberrantly expressed in OIR retinas and may play potential roles in retinal neovascular diseases.

No abstract