2002 Successful NHMRC Fellowships
| Chief Investigator(s): |
Associate Professor Roger Truscott |
| |
2002 $ |
2003 $ |
2004 $ |
2005 $ |
2006 $ |
Total $ |
| |
$105,000 |
$105,000 |
$105,000 |
$105,000 |
$105,000 |
$525,000 |
| Title: |
|
| Summary: |
Cataract is the major cause of world blindness. My recent research
has lead to a revolution in the understanding of the most common form; age-related
nuclear (ARN) cataract. In brief, my team has shown that all of the clinical
and biochemical features associated with ARN cataract can be explained by the
onset of an internal barrier within the lens at middle age. This “barrier
hypothesis” postulates that the protein changes observed in the cataractous
lens result from a combination of a lack of sufficient antioxidant glutahione
flux, thus allowing protein oxidation, and an increase in protein modification
resulting from increased residence times of reactive molecules, such as UV filters,
inside the barrier [109]. In the next five years I aim to validate and amplify
this proposal. The implications are great. If either a) the onset of the barrier
can be delayed, or b) UV filter synthesis can be inhibited, it may be feasible
to prevent ARN cataract. |
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