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Assessment of Vascular Regeneration in the CNS Using the Mouse Retina
Published on: June 23, 2014
Pathological roles of recoverin in cancer-associated retinopathy
Hiroshi Ohguro1, Mitsuru Nakazawa
1Department of Ophthalmology, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, 5 Zaifu-cho, Hirosaki 036-8652, Aomori, Japan. ooguro@cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
Cancer associated retinopathy (CAR) is an ocular manifestation of paraneoplastic syndrome clinically characterized by progressive visual impairment similar to retinitis pigmentosa. As a possible mechanism causing the retinal degeneration, the presence of serum autoantibodies against recoverin and other retinal antigens are involved. The molecular pathology in CAR by anti-recoverin antibody is considered to occur in the following steps: Firstly, recoverin aberrantly expressed in cancerous tissues is recognized by immunocytes by some unknown mechanisms and then a specific antibody toward recoverin is produced. Secondly, the anti-recoverin antibody reaches the retina via the peripheral circulation and is taken up into photoreceptor cells. Lastly, the antibody blocks recoverin function (inhibition of rhodopsin phosphorylation in a calcium dependent manner), and enhancement of rhodopsin phosphorylation induces retinal apoptosis.
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