Mihyun Nam
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, CO·Medicine & Clinical Research
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness. It slowly damages the optic nerve, which carries signals from the eye to the brain.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Physiology
Pharmacology
- Topics
glaucoma
intraocular pressure
ocular hypertension
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Sep 2027
What they work on
- Compare levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), sugar-damaged proteins, in trabecular meshwork tissue from primary open-angle glaucoma patients and healthy controls.
- Test whether AGEs cause matrix remodeling and dysfunction in trabecular meshwork cells, using RNA sequencing to identify the signaling pathways AGEs switch on.
- Determine whether raising AGE levels in the eye's drainage tissue increases outflow resistance and intraocular pressure, by delivering AGE precursors into mouse eyes with a sustained-release system.
- Assess whether blocking the AGE receptor RAGE protects the trabecular meshwork and lowers outflow resistance, using a receptor antagonist in cells and mice and comparing with RAGE-deficient mice.
More about the research
Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), the most common type, is linked to high pressure inside the eye (intraocular pressure, IOP), the only risk factor doctors can change. The pressure rises when the eye's fluid, the aqueous humor, has trouble draining.
Why it matters
About 80 million people worldwide have glaucoma, and nearly 11 million are blind from it. Lowering eye pressure is the main way to protect vision in primary open-angle glaucoma. If AGE buildup in the eye's drainage tissue raises pressure, blocking the AGE receptor (RAGE) could become a new way to reduce pressure, prevent ocular hypertension and help preserve sight in POAG patients.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Carla Siegfried
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Medicine & Clinical Research
Compare gene expression in trabecular meshwork tissue from healthy donors and glaucoma patients at different stages, confirming key genes with RT-qPCR, in situ hybridization and Western blot, with focus on mitochondria and antioxidant defenses.
Gillian McLellan
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Medicine & Clinical Research
Optimize delivery of a feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)-based lentiviral vector to trabecular meshwork cells, the eye's fluid-drainage tissue, in cultured feline cells and glaucomatous cat eyes, selecting vector and dose for efficiency, tissue specificity and safety.
Weiming Mao
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, IN·Pharmacology
Test whether activating canonical Wnt signaling prevents steroid-induced high eye pressure in mice, using Wnt reporter mice and conditional knockout mice that lack β-catenin, the pathway's key protein.
The school
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus: 41 labs on PI Pages, $766M a year on research, 205 research doctorates a year.
More about University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus
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