"The roles of beta-catenin, APC and the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in lens development and cataract"

Abstract

Cataract is a leading cause of blindness. Many risk factors have been identified but the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms that cause cataract are not well understood. Investigation of these mechanisms is essential to identify potential targets for future therapies to arrest or prevent cataract formation. The lens is composed of epithelial and fibre cells. Much of our research has focussed on identifying genes and cell signalling pathways that regulate formation of fibre cells from the epithelial cells. However, considerably less is known about factors that regulate formation of the epithelium itself. As the epithelial cells are affected in some types of cataract it is vitally importan..