{"680713":{"#nid":"680713","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Under Pressure: Georgia Tech Researchers Discover a Potential New Way to Treat Glaucoma","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFour million Americans \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.healthdata.org\/news-events\/newsroom\/news-releases\/new-prevalence-glaucoma-us-2022-study-finds-higher-prevalence\u0022\u003Esuffer\u003C\/a\u003E from glaucoma, an incurable eye disease that slowly degrades peripheral vision and eventually leads to blindness. Researchers at Georgia Tech have discovered a potential way to stop this degradation and possibly save people\u2019s vision before it\u2019s too late.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/raquel-lieberman\u0022\u003ERaquel Lieberman\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/bio\u0022\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E, and her \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/lieberman.chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Elab\u003C\/a\u003E team have discovered two new antibodies with promise to treat glaucoma. The antibodies can break down the protein myocilin, which, when it malfunctions, can cause glaucoma.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELieberman\u2019s group recently \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pnasnexus\/article\/4\/1\/pgae556\/7920644\u0022\u003Epublished\u003C\/a\u003E this research in the \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Nexus\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProtein Problems\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMyocilin is just one of hundreds of thousands of proteins that make up the human body. In the eye, an especially delicate balance of proteins and fluid enables sight. The aqueous humor, a clear fluid, bathes the lens that helps focus light into the retina. In a healthy eye, the fluid drains regularly, but if something prevents the fluid from circulating, it increases pressure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYour eyeball is kind of like a basketball,\u201d explained Lieberman. \u201cIf you want it to work optimally, it has to be pressurized.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELieberman\u2019s team has learned that if myocilin mutates, it clumps up and prevents aqueous humor from draining, increasing eye pressure. If left unmanaged, glaucoma and \u2014 eventually \u2014 blindness will occur.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAntibody Answer\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELieberman\u2019s lab characterized two new antibodies that each, in their unique way, can destroy myocilin gone rogue. One binds in a way that does not prevent myocilin from clumping; the other prevents the protein from aggregating. Both effectively break down myocilin so it no longer blocks the aqueous humor from flowing.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u201cThese exciting results provide proof of concept that targeted antibodies for mutant myocilin aggregation could be therapeutic,\u201d said Alice Ma, a Ph.D. graduate who worked on the research. \u201cThis represents a new paradigm for treating other diseases associated with protein clumping, like Alzheimer\u2019s. These studies hold the potential to save the eyesight of millions of glaucoma patients.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe findings have been the culmination of nearly two decades of research with Lieberman\u2019s close collaborator, University of Texas at Austin chemical engineering Professor Jennifer Maynard, whose group helped discover the two antibodies that responded to the mutation. Lieberman\u2019s group then worked to understand how the antibodies functioned, determining the two that most successfully broke down the protein.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis study builds on 10 years of work that explains how myocilin folds to how to break it down,\u201d Lieberman said. \u201cI am at a very fortunate place in my career where this fundamental research coalesces into what we could use clinically.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETreatment Transformation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELieberman hopes the antibodies can help treat glaucoma patients, particularly those with early onset glaucoma, often children. She now has a research collaboration with Rebecca Neustein, a physician at Emory University who treats these young patients.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cShe doesn\u0027t have much hope to give her patients for curing glaucoma,\u201d Lieberman said. \u201cSo she was very excited that we could do some genotyping and figure out who these antibodies can help.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELieberman\u2019s research offers a clearer future for millions suffering from glaucoma and those at risk of developing the disease. By leveraging antibodies to target and break down malfunctioning myocilin, this discovery not only paves the way for new treatments for glaucoma but also opens doors for addressing other protein-aggregation diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s, Parkinson\u2019s, and even Type 2 diabetes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFunding: National Institutes of Health\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAnimation by Raul Perez\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENewly discovered antibodies break down the protein that causes glaucoma.\u003Cstrong\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Newly discovered antibodies break down the protein that causes glaucoma.  "}],"uid":"34541","created_gmt":"2025-02-24 22:14:02","changed_gmt":"2025-03-12 16:40:14","author":"Tess Malone","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-02-24T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-02-24T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676384":{"id":"676384","type":"image","title":"Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-5.18.21-PM.png","body":null,"created":"1740435641","gmt_created":"2025-02-24 22:20:41","changed":"1740435641","gmt_changed":"2025-02-24 22:20:41","alt":"Eye","file":{"fid":"260163","name":"Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-5.18.21-PM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/02\/24\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-5.18.21-PM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/02\/24\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-5.18.21-PM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1530649,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/02\/24\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-5.18.21-PM.png?itok=1CJdqCv9"}}},"media_ids":["676384"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone, Senior Research Writer\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Etess.malone@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}