Role of taurine in cone death

Summary Cone photoreceptors degenerate in a number of retinal diseases leading thereby to blindness or low vision as in age‐related macular degeneration or retinal dystrophies. However, mechanisms leading to cone photoreceptor death remain enigmatic. In the 70s, taurine depletion was shown to lead t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta ophthalmologica (Oxford, England) England), 2017-09, Vol.95 (S259), p.n/a
Main Authors: Picaud, S., Trouillet, A., Hadj‐Saïd, W., Dubus, E., García‐Ayuso, D., Sahel, J., El‐Amraoui, A., Petit, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Animal models
Antioxidants
Blindness
Cones
Depletion
Gliosis
Macular degeneration
Neuroprotection
Photoreception
Photoreceptors
Retina
Retinal degeneration
Rodents
Studies
Supplements
Taurine
Taurine transporter
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Summary:Summary Cone photoreceptors degenerate in a number of retinal diseases leading thereby to blindness or low vision as in age‐related macular degeneration or retinal dystrophies. However, mechanisms leading to cone photoreceptor death remain enigmatic. In the 70s, taurine depletion was shown to lead to complete photoreceptor degeneration. We have investigated the relative cone/rod sensitivity to taurine depletion and the effect of taurine supplementation on cone degeneration in a model of Usher syndrome type 1. Using a taurine transporter blocker, we have shown that taurine depletion induces a cone degeneration prior to the rod loss. This cone degeneration affect both blue and green cones throughout the retina. To investigate whether taurine could provide an interesting neuroprotective agent in retinal diseases, we supplemented a mouse model of Usher syndrome type 1 with taurine. This taurine supplementation prevented the cone photoreceptor degeneration and the associated retinal gliosis. These studies demonstrate that taurine is an essential antioxidant for cone photoreceptor survival. Its supplementation could slow down the degenerative process of cone photoreceptors as in our in animal models of Usher syndrome type 1.
ISSN:1755-375X
1755-3768
DOI:10.1111/j.1755-3768.2017.01363