The Role of Prostanoids in the Retina and Optic Nerve
By Liza Shevchuk
Vision Science student Emily Ward and Research Scientist Dr. Shruthi Karnam from the Flanagan and Gronert Labs, have published a paper titled, “The Role of Prostanoids in the Retina and Optic Nerve in Health and Disease.” The paper is published in the journal, Progress in Retinal and Eye Research.
While prostanoids are best known for their roles in the anterior eye, particularly through PGF2α-based intraocular pressure-lowering therapies such as latanoprost, much less is known about their functions in the retina and optic nerve.
The paper outlines how major prostanoids, including PGD2, PGE2, PGF2α, PGI2, and TXA2, regulate retinal and optic nerve homeostasis and contribute to a wide range of retinal and optic nerve diseases. Data from the current literature was combined with novel lipidomics and human and mouse single-cell transcriptomic atlas analyses to better understand where prostanoid pathway components are expressed and how they change in disease. The review highlights that prostanoid signaling is highly cell-specific, region-specific, and disease-stage dependent, making these pathways promising targets for future therapies in posterior eye disease.
Read the PaperRelated Information
About Emily Ward
About Shruthi Karnam
Flanagan Lab
Gronert Lab