Researchers Find Brain Immune Cells Regulate Vision Health
During most eye infections or injuries, neutrophils, immune cells found in the blood, are usually the first line of defense. However, researchers at the Flaum Eye Institute and Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester have discovered that the retina responds differently than many other tissues in the body. When photoreceptor cells in the retina are damaged, microglia, or the brain’s immune cells, respond, and the neutrophils are not recruited to help despite passing through nearby blood vessels.
“This finding has high implications for what happens for millions of Americans who suffer vision loss through loss of photoreceptors,” said Jesse Schallek, PhD, associate professor of Ophthalmology and senior author of a study out today in eLife. “This association between two key immune cell populations is essential knowledge as we build new therapies that must understand the nuance of immune cell interactions.”
