[Intracellular pathways leading to apoptosis of retinal cells]

Some ocular diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinal detachment, diabetic retinopathy or pathological myopia result in apoptotic death of retinal cells. Caspases are proteases that take part in the intracellular signaling pathways that cause apoptosis in different cell types. By using different experimental models, an increase in caspase activity in retinal cells after damage has been shown. However, some studies have shown that other molecules apart from caspases are activated during apoptosis in the retina. Moreover, the type of caspase that is activated seems to be different depending on the type of retinal cell and the pathology analysed. Inhibition of the processes that result in retinal cell apoptosis could decrease the number of dead cells and prevent the irreversible loss of visual function associated with some pathologies such as glaucoma. In this study we aim to review the basic research studies published in the last years in order to know the molecules and pathways involved in the processes which cause apoptosis of the different types of retinal cells.