Faculty Collaboration Database

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the Aging Retina. Biology (Basel) 2019 May 11;8(2)

Date

05/15/2019

Pubmed ID

31083549

Pubmed Central ID

PMC6627398

DOI

10.3390/biology8020031

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85068512752 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   80 Citations

Abstract

Mitochondria are central in retinal cell function and survival and they perform functions that are critical to cell function. Retinal neurons have high energy requirements, since large amounts of ATP are needed to generate membrane potentials and power membrane pumps. Mitochondria over the course of aging undergo a number of changes. Aged mitochondria exhibit decreased rates of oxidative phosphorylation, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and increased numbers of mtDNA mutations. Mitochondria in the neural retina and the retinal pigment epithelium are particularly susceptible to oxidative damage with aging. Many age-related retinal diseases, including glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, have been associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. Therefore, mitochondria are a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of retinal disease.

Author List

Eells JT

Author

Janis Eells PhD Professor in the Biomedical Sciences department at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee