Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 37, Issue 12, Pages 3294-3310Publisher
SOC NEUROSCIENCE
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2717-16.2017
Keywords
degeneration; microglia; neuroprotection; photoreceptor; retinitis pigmentosa; tamoxifen
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Funding
- National Eye Institute Intramural Research Program-National Institutes of Health
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Photoreceptor degeneration is a cause of irreversible vision loss in incurable blinding retinal diseases including retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and atrophic age-related macular degeneration. We found in two separate mouse models of photoreceptor degeneration that tamoxifen, a selective estrogen receptor modulator and a drug previously linked with retinal toxicity, paradoxically provided potent neuroprotective effects. In a light-induced degeneration model, tamoxifen prevented onset of photoreceptor apoptosis and atrophy and maintained near-normal levels of electroretinographic responses. Rescue effects were correlated with decreased microglial activation and inflammatory cytokine production in the retina in vivo and a reduction of microglia-mediated toxicity to photoreceptors in vitro, indicating a microglia-mediated mechanism of rescue. Tamoxifen also rescued degeneration in a genetic (Pde6b(rd10)) model of RP, significantly improving retinal structure, electrophysiological responses, and visual behavior. These prominent neuroprotective effects warrant the consideration of tamoxifen as a drug suitable for being repurposed to treat photoreceptor degenerative disease.
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