{"id":114617,"date":"2024-09-04T01:58:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T06:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=114617"},"modified":"2024-09-03T10:37:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T15:37:08","slug":"unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/","title":{"rendered":"UNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

New research from a UNMC ophthalmology team demonstrates for the first time that cytokines \u2013 the cell-signaling proteins known to regulate inflammation in response to disease or injury \u2013 play an important role in the development and regeneration of the retinal cells that degenerate in glaucoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings, published recently in the journal Stem Cell Reports, suggest microglia, the resident immune cells in the retina that secrete cytokines, as a potential cellular target for glaucoma therapeutics, said Iqbal Ahmad, PhD, professor in the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Ahmad led the study team with the lead author Murali Subramani, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate, and Brandon Lambrecht. Their article, \u201cHuman Microglia-derived Proinflammatory Cytokines Facilitates Human Retinal Ganglion Cells Development and Regeneration,\u201d<\/a> was published Aug. 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glaucoma is the second largest cause of blindness, affecting 3 million people in the U.S. and 80 million people worldwide, Dr. Ahmad said. And there is no cure for degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research team is studying why and how RGCs degenerate in hopes of developing early diagnostics and therapeutics, Dr. Ahmad said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the stem cell model of retinal development, Dr. Subramani and Lambrecht demonstrated that cytokines secreted by microglia promoted the growth of RGC axons, which connect the retina with the higher centers in the brain for the perception of vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When these axons were experimentally damaged to simulate RGC degeneration in glaucoma, the microglia-derived cytokines facilitated their regeneration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur observations offer a new way to look at cytokines secreted by microglia,\u201d Dr. Ahmad said. \u201cWe found that these chemicals are not always proinflammatory but have developmental function where they ensure the functional maturity of RGCs and the proper growth of their axons, both necessary for visual perception.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future therapeutics, Dr. Ahmad said, could include recapitulating the developmental function of microglia to counteract the RGC degeneration in glaucoma.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UNMC ophthalmology team, which has published new research, is studying a potential cellular target for glaucoma therapeutics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":110224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"40955,31325,60542,19456,72414,31240","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-research","department-ophthalmology-and-visual-sciences","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines","author_override-jeff-robb-unmc-strategic-communications"],"yoast_head":"\nUNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The UNMC ophthalmology team, which has published new research, is studying a potential cellular target for glaucoma therapeutics.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UNMC ophthalmology team, which has published new research, is studying a potential cellular target for glaucoma therapeutics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-04T06:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IqbalAhmad2041124-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Robb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Robb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeffrey Robb\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c\"},\"headline\":\"UNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-04T06:58:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/\"},\"wordCount\":318,\"commentCount\":8,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IqbalAhmad2041124-scaled.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/\",\"name\":\"UNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IqbalAhmad2041124-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-04T06:58:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"The UNMC ophthalmology team, which has published new research, is studying a potential cellular target for glaucoma therapeutics.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IqbalAhmad2041124-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IqbalAhmad2041124-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Iqbal Ahmad, PhD. photographed in his laboratory in the Durham Research Center on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus in Omaha on Tuesday, October 6, 2020.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/unmc\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Robb\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells","description":"The UNMC ophthalmology team, which has published new research, is studying a potential cellular target for glaucoma therapeutics.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells","og_description":"The UNMC ophthalmology team, which has published new research, is studying a potential cellular target for glaucoma therapeutics.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","article_published_time":"2024-09-04T06:58:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IqbalAhmad2041124-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeffrey Robb","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@unmc","twitter_site":"@unmc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey Robb","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeffrey Robb","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c"},"headline":"UNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells","datePublished":"2024-09-04T06:58:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/"},"wordCount":318,"commentCount":8,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IqbalAhmad2041124-scaled.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/","name":"UNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IqbalAhmad2041124-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2024-09-04T06:58:00+00:00","description":"The UNMC ophthalmology team, which has published new research, is studying a potential cellular target for glaucoma therapeutics.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IqbalAhmad2041124-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IqbalAhmad2041124-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Iqbal Ahmad, PhD. photographed in his laboratory in the Durham Research Center on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus in Omaha on Tuesday, October 6, 2020."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/04\/unmc-research-shows-role-of-cytokines-in-retinal-cells\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UNMC research shows role of cytokines in retinal cells"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization","name":"University of Nebraska Medical Center","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","width":500,"height":153,"caption":"University of Nebraska Medical Center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","https:\/\/x.com\/unmc","https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c","name":"Jeffrey Robb","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114617"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114619,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114617\/revisions\/114619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}