Glaucoma Research

Ahmed-ocular-injury-picture

Overview

Glaucoma is a disease in which damage to the optic nerve leads to the progressive, irreversible death of retinal ganglion cells and vision loss. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness. Our team aims to fast track the translation of discoveries from the University of Birmingham research laboratories to reduce the risk of blindness for  patients with this debilitating degenerative eye condition.

Our research

Our scientists, ophthalmologists, neurologists, neuroscientists and bioengineers work together to develop a multi-disciplinary approach to research into glaucoma. We are pioneering advances in our understanding of the cellular and molecular events that underlie the disease to deliver excellence in innovation for the treatment of this complex disease to deliver excellence in innovation for the treatment of this complex disease.

Patients of African-Carribean heritage are disproportionately afflicted by glaucoma. Furthermore, surgical treatment in this group is complicated by an aggressive wound healing response. Our team has a particular interest in elucidating the mechanisms that underpin this disparity, thereby facilitating the development of therapies which can reduce avoidable blindness in this high risk group.

As a team, we are interested in research which advances our understanding of ocular fibrosis in the trabecular meshwork and developing anti-fibrotic treatments. We are also working towards neuroprotective treatments to prevent retinal ganglion cell death and preserve vision of glaucoma patients. Some of our projects are directed towards developing ways of improving drug delivery and devising topical treatments for glaucoma.

We also have a particular interest in developing a better understanding of the cause of the ocular hypertension that can develop in glaucoma and how new multi-modal drugs may help reduce ocular pressure and protect the retina from further damage.

Projects 

  • Developing therapies to restore trabecular meshwork homeostasis
  • Investigating mechanisms of extracellular matrix dysfunctions in glaucoma
  • Neuroprotection of retinal ganglion cells by survival signaling
  • Improving drug delivery of current treatments
  • Developing novel topical drug delivery agents to treat glaucoma
  • Developing stem cell-based therapies
  • Understanding mechanisms of glaucoma and surgical wound healing in African-Carribeans

Recent Publications

Morelli-Batters A, Lamont HC, Elghobashy M, Masood I and Hill LJ (2022) The role of Vitamin D3 in ocular fibrosis and its therapeutic potential for the glaucomatous trabecular meshwork. Front. Ophthalmol. 2:897118 

Elghobashy M, Lamont HC, Morelli-Batters A, Masood I and Hill LJ (2022) Magnesium and its role in Primary Open Angle Glaucoma; a novel therapeutic? Frontiers in Ophthalmology, 28

Lamont HC, Masood I, Grover LM, El Haj AJ and Hill LJ (2021) Fundamental biomaterial considerations in the development of a 3D model representative of primary open angle glaucoma. Bioengineering 8 (11), 147

Hill LJ, Botfield HF, Begum G, Qureshi O, Vigneswara V, Masood I, Barnes NM, Bruce L and Logan A (2021) ILB® resolves inflammatory scarring and promotes functional tissue repair. npj Regenerative Medicine 6 (3)

Mead B, Cullather E, Nakaya N, Niu Y, Kole C, Ahmed Z and Tomarev SI (2020) Viral delivery of multiple miRNAs promotes retinal ganglion cell survival and functional preservation after optic nerve crush injury. Experimental Eye Research 197, 108071

Mead B, Chamling X, Zack DJ, Ahmed Z and Tomarev SI (2020) TNFα-mediated priming of mesenchymal stem cells enhances their neuroprotective effect on retinal ganglion cells. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 61 (2), 6-6

Ahmed Z, Morgan-Warren PJ, Berry M, Scott RAH and Logan A (2019) Effects of siRNA-mediated knockdown of GSK3β on retinal ganglion cell survival and neurite/axon growth. Cells 8 (9), 956

Mead B, Zack DJ, Ahmed Z and Tomarev SI (2019) Neuroprotection of retinal ganglion cells by BMSC-derived exosomes. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 60 (9), 5174-5174

Thompson A, Berry M, Logan A and Ahmed Z (2019) Activation of the BMP4/Smad1 pathway promotes retinal ganglion cell survival and axon regeneration. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 60 (5), 1748-1759

Vigneswara V and Ahmed Z (2019) Pigment epithelium-derived factor mediates retinal ganglion cell neuroprotection by suppression of caspase-2. Cell death & disease 10 (2), 102

Jiao H, Hill LJ, Downie LE and Chinnery HR (2019) Anterior segment optical coherence tomography: its application in clinical practice and experimental models of disease. Clinical and Experimental Optometry 102 (3), 208-217

Hill LJ, Botfield H, Bruce L and Logan A (2019) A newly formulated low-weight dextran sulphate, ILB, reduces inflammation and fibrosis in pre-clinical models of inflammation and scarring. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 60 (9), 3793-3793

Hill LJ, Botfield H, Bruce L and Logan A (2018) ILB reduces trabecular meshwork scarring, IOP and retinal ganglion cell death in a rat model of primary open angle glaucoma. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 59 (9), 4723-4723

Hill LJ, Mead B, Thomas CN, Foale S, Feinstein E, Berry M, Blanch RJ, Ahmed Z and Logan A (2018) TGF-β-induced IOP elevations are mediated by RhoA in the early but not the late fibrotic phase of open angle glaucoma. Molecular Vision 24, 712

Mead B, Ahmed Z and Tomarev SI (2018) Mesenchymal stem cell–derived small extracellular vesicles promote neuroprotection in a genetic DBA/2J mouse model of glaucoma. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 59 (13), 5473-5480

Mead B, Amaral J, Ahmed Z and Tomarev SI (2018) BMSC-derived exosomes promote retinal ganglion cell survival in multiple rodent models of glaucoma. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 59 (9), 2615-2615

Blanch RJ, Hill LJ, O'Neill J, Murray PI, Masood I, Logan A and Ahmed Z (2016) The role of pigment epithelium-derived factor in the progression of primary open angle glaucoma. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 57 (12)

Hill LJ, Ahmed Z and Logan A (2016) Perspective: Decorin treatment for reversing trabecular meshwork fibrosis in open-angle glaucoma. Neural Regeneration 11(6):922-3

Mead B, Hill LJ, Blanch RJ, Ward K, Logan A, Berry M, Leadbeater W and Scheven BA (2016) Mesenchymal stromal cell-mediated neuroprotection and functional preservation of retinal ganglion cells in a rodent model of glaucoma. Cytotherapy 18(4):487-96

Hill LJ, Mead B, Blanch RJ, Ahmed Z, De Cogan F, Morgan-Warren PJ, Mohamed S, Leadbeater W, Scott RA, Berry M and Logan A (2015) Decorin Reduces Intraocular Pressure and Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss in Rodents Through Fibrolysis of the Scarred Trabecular Meshwork. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 56(6):3743-57

Vigneswara V, Esmaeili M, Deer L, Berry M, Logan A and Ahmed Z (2015) Eye drop delivery of pigment epithelium-derived factor-34 promotes retinal ganglion cell neuroprotection and axon regeneration. Mol Cell Neurosci 68:212-21

Mead B, Berry M, Logan A, Scott RA, Leadbeater W and Scheven BA (2015) Stem cell treatment of degenerative eye disease. Stem Cell Res 14(3):243-57

Mead B, Thompson A, Scheven BA, Logan A, Berry M and Leadbeater W (2014) Comparative evaluation of methods for estimating retinal ganglion cell loss in retinal sections and wholemounts. PLoS One 9(10):e110612

Mead B, Logan A, Berry M, Leadbeater W and Scheven BA (2014) Paracrine-mediated neuroprotection and neuritogenesis of axotomised retinal ganglion cells by human dental pulp stem cells: comparison with human bone marrow and adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. PLoS One 9(10):e109305

Mead B, Logan A, Berry M, Leadbeater W and Scheven BA (2014) Dental pulp stem cells, a paracrine-mediated therapy for the retina. Neural Regen Res 9(6):577-8

Vigneswara V, Berry M, Logan A and Ahmed Z (2012) Pharmacological inhibition of caspase-2 protects axotomised retinal ganglion cells from apoptosis in adult rats. PLoS One 7(12):e53473

Ahmed Z, Kalinski H, Berry M, Almasieh M, Ashush H, Slager N, Brafman A, Spivak I, Prasad N, Mett I, Shalom E, Alpert E, Di Polo A, Feinstein E and Logan A (2011) Ocular neuroprotection by siRNA targeting caspase-2. Cell Death Dis 2:e173

Research Team

Principal Investigators

External Collaborators