Evidence is presented that the characteristic pattern of neutonal degeneration associated with glaucoma is due to a combination of the persistent physical damage to axons at the level of the lamina cribrosa and the associated neuronal reaction to this kind of trauma. The class of neuronal cytoskeletal proteins known as the neurofilament triplet are crucially involved in the reaction to physical damage and the selective localization of these proteins to larger retinal ganglion cells may underlie their susceptibility to eventual degeneration. The appearance of glaucoma- like neuronal pathology in Alzheimer's disease may follow the reaction of neurofilamentcontaining retinal ganglion neurons to persistent damage to their axons by β-amyloid plaque formation in subcortical visual centres.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Medical and Health Sciences
Research Group:	Ophthalmology and Optometry
Research Field:	Ophthalmology
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Clinical Health (Organs, Diseases and Abnormal Conditions)
Objective Field:	Hearing, Vision, Speech and Their Disorders
UTAS Author:	Vickers, JC (Professor James Vickers)
ID Code:	10094
Year Published:	1997
Web of Science® Times Cited:	30
Deposited By:	Pathology
Deposited On:	1997-08-01
Last Modified:	2015-07-31
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