Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid - mediated Cellular Rejuvenation for Reversing Age-related Vision Decline.

The retina is uniquely enriched in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are primarily localized in cell membranes, where they govern membrane biophysical properties such as diffusion, permeability, domain formation, and curvature generation. During aging, alterations in lipid metabolism lead to reduced content of very long-chain PUFAs (VLC-PUFAs) in the retina, and this decline is associated with normal age-related visual decline and pathological age-related macular degeneration (AMD). (Elongation of very-long-chain fatty acids-like 2) encodes a transmembrane protein that produces precursors to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and VLC-PUFAs, and methylation level of its promoter is currently the best predictor of chronological age.

A novel quantification method for retinal pigment epithelium phagocytosis using a very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids-based strategy.

Introduction: The vertebrate retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) lies adjacent to the photoreceptors and is responsible for the engulfment and degradation of shed photoreceptor outer segment fragments (POS) through receptor-mediated phagocytosis. Phagocytosis of POS is critical for maintaining photoreceptor function and is a key indicator of RPE functionality. Popular established methods to assess RPE phagocytosis rely mainly on quantifying POS proteins, especially their most abundant protein rhodopsin, or on fluorescent dye conjugation of bulk, unspecified POS components.

Dynamic Progress in Technological Advances to Study Lipids in Aging: Challenges and Future Directions.

Lipids participate in all cellular processes. Diverse methods have been developed to investigate lipid composition and distribution in biological samples to understand the effect of lipids across an organism's lifespan. Here, we summarize the advanced techniques for studying lipids, including mass spectrometry-based lipidomics, lipid imaging, chemical-based lipid analysis and lipid engineering and their advantages.

Inhibition of ceramide accumulation in AdipoR1-/- mice increases photoreceptor survival and improves vision.

Adiponectin receptor 1 (ADIPOR1) is a lipid and glucose metabolism regulator that possesses intrinsic ceramidase activity. Mutations of the ADIPOR1 gene have been associated with nonsyndromic and syndromic retinitis pigmentosa. Here, we show that the absence of AdipoR1 in mice leads to progressive photoreceptor degeneration, significant reduction of electroretinogram amplitudes, decreased retinoid content in the retina, and reduced cone opsin expression.