Possible therapy for age-related macular degeneration using human telomerase.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in people over 60 years of age in the US and many other developed countries. Increasingly sophisticated methods for the diagnosis and treatment of macular degeneration are not effective for the majority of patients in whom late stage disease is present at the time of diagnosis. Research to elucidate the changes in RPE cell biology during aging has stimulated interest in preventive and prophylactic therapies for earlier intervention in the degenerative process. In the normal retina, the RPE performs the functions of barrier, macrophage, and neuroprotective cell layer. During aging and in the presence of disease the robustness of each of these functions diminishes. The utility of telomerase-mediated cell and gene therapy to prevent the decline in function of RPE cells during aging is evaluated.