Dr. Yingxue Cao from Johns Hopkins University Awarded $90,000 Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant for Retinopathy of Prematurity Treatment Research

Yingxue Cao, MD, PhD, from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Wilmer Eye Institute, was awarded a $90,000 grant for Role and Mechanism of HMGB1 in Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the leading causes of childhood blindness in the United States and worldwide. It is critical to identify and understand additional factors that regulate vascular disease progression, that could then be targeted for human ROP treatment. HMGB1 is a highly conserved protein with tasks both inside and outside cells. In pathological settings, it is both actively secreted and passively released by cells, upregulating inflammatory responses in the body, including stimulation of vascular leakage and angiogenesis.

Researchers previous data indicates a significant increase in vitreous levels of HMGB1protein in the mouse oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model were significantly, and the administration of HMGB1-neutralizing antibodies effectively reduced the neovascular (NV) area and vaso-obliteration (VO) in the retinas of postnatal day 17 (P17) mice.

Dr. Cao’s objective of her study is to further understand the role and mechanisms of HMGB1 in OIR, in order to develop treatments targeting HMGB1 in retinopathy of prematurity.