Helper protein worsens diabetic eye disease

In a recent study using mice, lab-grown human retinal cells and patient samples, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they found evidence of a new pathway that may contribute to degeneration of the light sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. They found that angiopoietin-like 4, a signaling protein that is already well known to be a blood vessel growth factor with roles in heart disease, cancer and metabolic diseases, is at play in diabetic macular edema.