A new target for treatment of one type of macular degeneration

A new study in mice hints at the promise of an eventual alternative treatment option for the ‘wet’ version of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Researchers determined in mice that an enzyme related to cell growth and division is a culprit in the blood vessel invasion in the back of the eye that causes blurred central vision in wet AMD. Targeting the enzyme, called telomerase, with an experimental drug suppressed abnormal vascular growth in the animals’ retina.