Calcineurin enzyme contributes to glaucoma, study suggests

The enzyme calcineurin may contribute to apoptotic retinal ganglion cell death in glaucoma, research in Boston suggests. Researchers there were able to block retinal ganglion cell death by inhibiting the enzyme in animal models using the drug FK506. Results of their study were published online this week.

“In glaucoma, we know that the disease progresses because the retinal ganglion cells die,” said the study’s senior author, Cynthia L. Grosskreutz, MD, PhD, in a press release from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. “Our goal is to figure out what mechanisms govern this cell death and to develop a strategy for protecting the cells from the things that cause them to die.”

The researchers used the drug FK506 to inhibit calcineurin to prevent cell death in two rodent models of increased IOP.

“The research results suggest that calcineurin activation and cleavage may play an important role in glaucomatous optic nerve degeneration and point to a specific molecular target in retinal ganglion cells that may be amenable to therapeutic intervention such as the use of drugs like FK506,” the press release said. “This is the first time this particular enzyme was identified as a cause of retinal cell death in glaucoma.”

The study was published in the online pre-print edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for August 15.