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The NLRP3 Inflammasome and its Role in Age-Related Macular Degeneration

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Retinal Degenerative Diseases

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 854))

Abstract

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of blindness among people of 65 years and older in developed countries (Klein and Klein, Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 54:7395–7401, 2013). Recent advances in dry AMD research points towards an important role of the inflammatory response in the development of the disease. The presence of inflammatory cells, antibodies, complement factors and pro-inflammatory cytokines in AMD retinas and drusen indicates that the immune system could be an important driving force in dry AMD. The NLRP3 inflammasome has been proposed as an integrator of process associated with AMD and the induction of inflammation. Herein we summarize the most recent studies that attempt to understand the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome in AMD.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the National Eye Institute and a research fellowship from Genentech through the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, 32610-0001, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Cristhian J. Ildefonso, Manas R. Biswal, Chulbul M. Ahmed & Alfred S. Lewin

Authors
  1. Cristhian J. Ildefonso
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  2. Manas R. Biswal
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  3. Chulbul M. Ahmed
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  4. Alfred S. Lewin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cristhian J. Ildefonso .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA

    Catherine Bowes Rickman

  2. Beckman Vision Center, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, USA

    Matthew M. LaVail

  3. Dean A. McGee Eye Inst., University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

    Robert E. Anderson

  4. University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Christian Grimm

  5. Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Med, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Joe Hollyfield

  6. Univ of Florida Dept of Ophthalmology/Arb R112, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    John Ash

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Ildefonso, C., Biswal, M., Ahmed, C., Lewin, A. (2016). The NLRP3 Inflammasome and its Role in Age-Related Macular Degeneration. In: Bowes Rickman, C., LaVail, M., Anderson, R., Grimm, C., Hollyfield, J., Ash, J. (eds) Retinal Degenerative Diseases. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 854. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17121-0_9

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