Discovered protein may lead to occular "meltdown"

17 Jun 2002

Johns Hopkins researchers have found a previously unknown protein in the eye that leads to "meltdown" of the cornea, the clear covering of the opening of the eye, which leads to painful blindness. The Hopkins team found evidence that part of the protein, called CO-Ag, may resemble the surfaces of certain bacteria or viruses. In a disease called Mooren's ulcer, this similarity apparently fools the immune system into mistaking the protein for a germ. In the resulting attack on the protein, the cornea is destroyed.

"The finding should help us determine the cause of this disease, and why only certain groups of people get it," says John Gottsch, M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Hopkins. The paper was published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.