Cellular Senescence in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Can Autophagy and DNA Damage Response Play a Role?

Figure 1

The exact mechanism of AMD pathogenesis is not known, but several factors can be implicated with a distinct role of aging. Besides aging, various oxidative stress-related environmental and lifestyle influences can be involved. The complement gene mutations play a major role in AMD. Oxidative stress and presumably other factors lead to accumulation of heterogenous lysosomal lipofuscin in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which induces a proinflammatory response. This, in turn, can lead to accumulation of extracellular drusen. Lipofuscin contains proangiogenic factors, such as A2E, that may develop choroidal neovascularization typical for wet AMD.