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Anti-VEGF protein shows potential for treating AMD, diabetic retinopathy in experimental study

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Activating a receptor protein found normally in blood vessel cells may have the potential to reverse or prevent age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, according to an experimental study involving mice.

"This discovery has significant implications for developing drugs that activate [this protein] to treat AMD and diabetic retinopathy," Kang Zhang, MD, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Utah's John A. Moran Eye Center and one of the study investigators, said in a press release from the university.

In mouse models of AMD and diabetic retinopathy, Dr. Zhang and colleagues used the protein Slit2 to activate the "endothelial-specific" Robo4 protein, which inhibited VEGF-165.

In all in vitro models, Robo4 maintained vascular integrity and inhibited VEGF migration and tube formation, according to the study.

"Our results ... suggest that activating Robo4 may have broad therapeutic application in diseases characterized by excessive angiogenesis and/or vascular leak," the authors said in the study, published online ahead of print in the March issue of Nature Medicine.