APOPTOTIC MECHANISMS IN RETINAL DEGENERATION TO BE EXPLOITED AS THERAPEUTIC TARGETS TO RESTRAIN PHOTORECEPTOR CELL DEATH

Retinal degenerations are the major cause of incurable blindness caused by loss of the cells responding to light in the retina. The molecular mechanism causing cell death of photoreceptors in the retina is still not well known even after identification of many genes mutated in these diseases. Understanding the basic processes activating cellular death is fundamental for the development of therapeutic approaches able to prevent photoreceptor demise and loss of vision. Our studies are aimed at the identification of the molecules triggering cell death in mutant photoreceptors and at defining whether different genetic insults activate the same cell death program. We will address these questions analyzing activation of newly identified proteins involved in cell death of retina photoreceptors. These studies will discover proteins that can be target of pharmacological therapies. We will test molecules able to interfere with the cell death program taking advantage of in vitro and in vivo models of photoreceptor degeneration.