Open AccessStructure-Guided Molecular Engineering of a Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Antagonist to Treat Retinal Diseases
Author(s) -
Rakeeb Kureshi,
Angela Y. Zhu,
Jikui Shen,
Stephany Y. Tzeng,
Leilani R. Astrab,
Paul R. Sargunas,
Jordan J. Green,
Peter A. Campochiaro,
Jamie B. Spangler
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
cellular and molecular bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.668
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1865-5033
pISSN - 1865-5025
DOI - 10.1007/s12195-020-00641-0
Subject(s) - retinal , antagonist , vascular endothelial growth factor , medicine , computational biology , biology , computer science , bioinformatics , ophthalmology , vegf receptors , cancer research , receptor
Ocular neovascularization is a hallmark of retinal diseases including neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, two leading causes of blindness in adults. Neovascularization is driven by the interaction of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) ligands with transmembrane VEGF receptors (VEGFR), and inhibition of the VEGF pathway has shown tremendous clinical promise. However, anti-VEGF therapies require invasive intravitreal injections at frequent intervals and high doses, and many patients show incomplete responses to current drugs due to the lack of sustained VEGF signaling suppression.