VIDEO: Interaction between VEGF, Tie, integrin pathways plays a role in retinal disease
Angiogenesis required the coordinated function of regulatory and effector proteins, including the VEGF, TIE, angiopoietin and integrin families, Peter K. Kaiser, MD, of the Cole Eye Institute at Cleveland Clinic, said in a video interview.
Better understanding the interactions between these receptors and proteins may help determine what combinations work best together, according to Kaiser, who presented at the virtual American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting.
“The most important takeaway is that angiogenesis is really a coordinated function. We really don't think about it that way. We think of blocking maybe one receptor or one type of activator, but in fact it's really a tightly coordinated symphony,” he said. “What we don't realize is how all these different receptors, we think about independently, but in fact they all are interrelated and there's a complex interaction between them. We have to take that into account when we look at using drugs to block these pathways.”
According to Kaiser, blocking multiple pathways may have a greater effect on patients.
“We really have to look in the future at the idea of blocking multiple pathways if we want to get a complete blockage of the neovascular process in macular degeneration, or of the process that occurs in diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema,” Kaiser said. “If we attack more than one pathway, we hopefully will get a better result because currently all our anti-VEGFs really have a ceiling effect as to its activity. We want to move that ceiling up, so blocking multiple pathways – whether it be VEGF, integrin or activating Tie2 – will be important in the future to get better results in our patients.”
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Kaiser PK. TIE2, VEGF, and integrin receptor interplay and its role in retinal disease. Presented at: American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting; Nov. 13-15, 2020 (virtual meeting).
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