Abstract
Retinal degeneration, characterised by the progressive death of retinal neurons, is the most common cause of visual impairment. Oxysterols are the cholesterol derivatives produced via enzymatic and/or free radical oxidation that regulate cholesterol homeostasis in the retina. Preclinical and clinical studies have suggested a connection between oxysterols and retinal degeneration. Here, we summarise early and recent work related to retina oxysterol-producing enzymes and the distribution of oxysterols in the retina. We examine the impact of loss of oxysterol-producing enzymes on retinal pathology and explore the molecular mechanisms associated with the toxic or protective roles of individual oxysterols in different types of retinal degeneration. We conclude that increased efforts to better understand the oxysterol-associated pathophysiology will help in the development of effective retinal degeneration therapies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3205-3219 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | British Journal of Pharmacology |
| Volume | 178 |
| Issue number | 16 |
| Early online date | 27 Feb 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Jul 2021 |
Funding
Research work in Dr. Shu's lab was supported by the Rosetrees Trust (M160, M160‐F1, M160‐F2), National Eye Research Centre (SAC037) and Tenovus Scotland (S20‐02). The work was partially supported by the Lotus Scholarship Program of Hunan Province, P. R. China (2019). X.S. is a visiting Professor to Shaoyang University. We are sorry we could not cite other related references.
Keywords
- cholesterol
- oxysterol
- retinal degeneration
- therapy
- toxicity