Aging Changes in Retinal Microglia and their Relevance to Age-related Retinal Disease (original) (raw)

Abstract

Age-related retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and glaucoma, contain features of chronic retinal inflammation that may promote disease progression. However, the relationship between aging and neuroinflammation is unclear. Microglia are long-lived, resident immune cells of the retina, and mediate local neuroinflammatory reactions. We hypothesize that aging changes in microglia may be causally linked to neuroinflammatory changes underlying age-dependent retinal diseases. Here, we review the evidence for (1) how the retinal microglial phenotype changes with aging, (2) the factors that drive microglial aging in the retina, and (3) aging-related changes in microglial gene expression. We examine how these aspects of microglial aging changes may relate to pathogenic mechanisms of immune dysregulation driving the progression of age-related retinal disease. These relationships can highlight microglial aging as a novel target for the prevention and treatment of retinal disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Unit on Neuron-Glia Interactions in Retinal Diseases, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, 6 Center Drive, 6/125, 20892, Bethesda, MD, USA
   Wenxin Ma & Wai T. Wong MD, PhD

Authors

1. Wenxin Ma
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2. Wai T. Wong MD, PhD
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Correspondence toWai T. Wong MD, PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

1. Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
   Catherine Bowes Rickman
2. Beckman Vision Center, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, USA
   Matthew M. LaVail
3. Dean A. McGee Eye Inst., University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
   Robert E. Anderson
4. University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
   Christian Grimm
5. Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Med, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
   Joe Hollyfield
6. Univ of Florida Dept of Ophthalmology/Arb R112, Gainesville, Florida, USA
   John Ash

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Ma, W., Wong, W. (2016). Aging Changes in Retinal Microglia and their Relevance to Age-related Retinal Disease. In: Bowes Rickman, C., LaVail, M., Anderson, R., Grimm, C., Hollyfield, J., Ash, J. (eds) Retinal Degenerative Diseases. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 854. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17121-0\_11

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• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17121-0\_11
• Published: 02 October 2015
• Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
• Print ISBN: 978-3-319-17120-3
• Online ISBN: 978-3-319-17121-0
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