Development of anti-Ang2 therapy for the treatment of diabetic macular edema

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25670732
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Ophthalmology
• Research Institution: Nagoya City University (2014); Kobe University (2013)
• Principal Investigator: UEMURA Akiyoshi 名古屋市立大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (30373278)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): FUKUSHIMA Yoko 大阪大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 助教 (70647031)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 糖尿病黄斑浮腫 / 網膜 / ペリサイト / Ang2

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Ant-VEGF therapy has globally become the major modality for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). However, because of its insufficient efficacy, development of new drugs for DME is desired. Here, by utilizing a mouse model of diabetic retinopathy which reproduces retinal edema resulting from loss of pericytes, we observed up-regulation of Angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) in endothelial cells of pericyte-free retinal vessels. Furthermore, intraocular injections of anti-Ang2 blocking antibody suppressed retinal edema even in the absence of pericytes. Given that several pharmaceutical companies have developed a series of anti-Ang2 drugs, anti-Ang2 therapy is expectably feasible for the treatment of DME.

Free Research Field

眼科学