Protein May Prevent Infant Eye Damage

U.S. medical scientists have identified a protein that might lead to treatments for premature babies born before their eyes are finished growing.

The University of Florida researchers said the finding offers a new target for therapies for retinopathy of prematurity — a potentially blinding disease that affects about 15,000 U.S. babies annually.

When babies are born before levels of this protein are normal, blood vessels spread abnormally throughout the retina, said Dr. Maria Grant, a UF professor of pharmacology and therapeutics. But if we can increase the protein to more normal levels in premature babies, it should result in healthier blood vessel growth.

The protein — IGFBP-3 — was thought to only regulate a molecular growth factor necessary for development of nerve, muscle, bone, eye and other body tissues.

But UF researchers found IGFBP-3 activates stem cells and other reparative bone marrow cells and the lining of blood vessels.

Researchers from the Harvard Medical School and Sweden’s University of Goteborg arrived at essentially the same conclusion and report the discovery, along with the University of Florida scientists, in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.