MICHAEL MEISINGER

University of Arizona professor Daniel Stamer examines the protein that causes glaucoma. Stamer was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Eye Institute to study the protein and the gene that produces it.

Wednesday October 24, 2001

$1.5 million will be used to study mysterious protein's effects on glaucoma

A UA professor has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Eye Institute to study the link between a mysterious gene and glaucoma.

Dr. Daniel Stamer, an assistant professor in the UA ophthalmology department who received the grant, said the research project is a result of genetic linkage studies, which linked the gene known as GLC1A to people who have primary open-angle glaucoma.

"It is the first time in about 100 years of glaucoma research that we have a gene which is responsible for glaucoma," he said. "It's a way to focus research in a certain area."

Open-angle glaucoma occurs when a buildup of eye fluid cannot drain normally and exerts pressure on the optic nerve at the rear of the eye. If pressure is not relieved over time, nerves in the retina die, peripheral vision fades and the condition ultimately progresses to complete blindness.

Stamer said about 90 percent of glaucoma sufferers are diagnosed with the .open-angle type of the disease.

Studies have shown that 5 percent of those people are afflicted with glaucoma because of a gene mutation, which miscoded the formation of a protein known as myocilin.

Three million Americans and nearly 67 million people worldwide suffer from glaucoma.

Stamer said myocilin is called the "mystery protein" because scientists do not fully understand what it does, but that researchers have discovered that people with the protein often develop glaucoma.

"People with the myocilin mutation are at a much higher risk of developing glaucoma," he said.

Stamer and his research team are hoping to discover exactly how the protein functions, and how it affects eye cells. His team will artificially produce myocilin and add it to the cells to study the effects of the protein on those cells.

"We'll be tackling the problem of what the protein does using molecular biology testing," he said.

He said that once the research shows the effects on cellular pathways, it will allow doctors to target drugs that will better treat people suffering from glaucoma.

"Once we know where it's acting, we can target the pathway with pharmaceuticals to treat it better," he said.