Eye Color Affected by Protein TPC2

Science Daily reports: "Skin, eye and hair pigmentation requires a delicate balance of acidity within the cellular compartments where melanin is made -- that balance is partly regulated, scientists now know, by a protein called TPC2." Read more.

Vision Keyed to a Protein in Retina

“An important scientific breakthrough by a team of IRCM researchers led by Michel Cayouette, PhD, is being published today by The Journal of Neuroscience,” according to a post on Medical News Today. “The Montréal scientists discovered that a protein found in the retina plays an essential role in the function and survival of light-sensing cells that are required for vision. These findings could have a significant impact on our understanding of retinal degenerative diseases that cause blindness. The researchers studied a process called compartmentalization, which establishes and maintains different compartments within a cell, each containing a specific set of proteins. This process is crucial for neurons (nerve cells) to function properly.” Read more.

Protein for Healthy Retina Found

“Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with researchers at the Salk Institute in California, have found for the first time that a specific protein is essential not only for maintaining a healthy retina in the eye, but also may have implications for understanding and possibly treating other conditions in the immune, reproductive, vascular and nervous systems, as well as in various cancers.” That's the lede of a Midwest Lenspost. Read more.

At the same time, “research led by Minghao Jin, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence, has found a protein that protects retinal photoreceptor cells from degeneration caused by light damage,” reports Science Daily. “This protein may provide a new therapeutic target for both an inherited retinal degenerative disease and age-related macular degeneration.” Read more.