Gene therapy in glaucoma-part I: Basic mechanisms and molecular genetics

Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness in the world as determined by the World Health Organization (WHO). Glaucoma diagnosis, identification of people at risk, initiation of treatment and timing of surgical intervention remains a problem. Despite new and improving diagnostic and therapeutic options for glaucoma, blindness from glaucoma remains a major public health problem. The role of heredity in ocular disease is attracting greater attention as knowledge and recent advances of Human Genome Project and the HapMap Project have made genetic analysis of many human disorders possible. Glaucoma offers a variety of potential targets for gene therapy. All risk factors for glaucoma and their underlying causes are potentially susceptible to modulation by gene transfer. The discovery of genes responsible for glaucoma has led to the development of new methods of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-based diagnosis and treatment. As genetic defects responsible for glaucoma are identified and the biochemical mechanisms underlying the disease are recognized, new methods of therapy can be developed. It is of utmost importance for ophthalmologists and glaucoma specialists to be familiar with and understand the basic molecular mechanisms, genes responsible for glaucoma and the ways of genetic treatment. METHOD OF LITERATURE SEARCH: The literature was searched on the Medline database using the Pubmed interface.