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Cells
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Increasing Incidence of Retinal Disorders: Addressing Preclinical Studies with Appropriate...
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Increasing Incidence of Retinal Disorders: Addressing Preclinical Studies with Appropriate Animal Models and Advanced Methodologies

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Tissues and Organs".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2025 | Viewed by 176

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Paola Bagnoli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Pisa, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Interests: animal models; ocular diseases; retinal function; neurodegeneration; neuroprotection; anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory compounds; dietary supplementation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Maurizio Cammalleri

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Interests: neurodegeneration; neoangiogenesis; retinal ganglion cells; neurovascular unit; diabetic retinopathy; retinopathy of prematurity; age-related macular degeneration; retinitis pigmentosa; full-field electroretinogram
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The globally increasing incidence of blinding diseases including wet AMD, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy should be more thoroughly studied, with particular attention to suitable animal models and advanced methodologies. An appropriate animal model can elucidate some fundamental aspects of a human disease to promote a greater understanding of its mechanism and enable the translational development of therapeutic or diagnostic modalities. Mice have been the dominant animal models in retinal diseases over the past 30 years. Their prevalent use has been driven by several key attributes including their small size, favorable genetic manipulation, relatively short generation time, and affordable cost compared to other mammals. However, there remain key limitations in the questions that can be addressed in these rodent models. At the methodological level, morpho-functional studies in the retina have been implemented via its molecular analysis, whereas the use of electroretinography should be expanded. Additionally, new advances in biomedical optics may offer many promising tools for retinal imaging. The present Special Issue seeks to synthesize current knowledge of retinal disorders in established model organisms with advances in methodologies to suggest new approaches to understand mechanisms underlying retinal diseases in humans.

Prof. Dr. Paola Bagnoli
Dr. Maurizio Cammalleri
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • hypoxia
  • oxidative stress
  • angiogenic markers
  • HIF-1/VEGF axis
  • retinal diseases
  • β-adrenoceptors
  • electroretinographic responses

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

27 pages, 10330 KiB  
Review
The Long-Standing Problem of Proliferative Retinopathies: Current Understanding and Critical Cues
by Maurizio Cammalleri and Paola Bagnoli
Cells 2025, 14(14), 1107; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells14141107 - 18 Jul 2025
Abstract
Retinal ischemia is implicated in ocular diseases involving aberrant neovessel proliferation that characterizes proliferative retinopathies. Their therapy still remains confined to the intravitreal administration of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) medication, which is limited by side effects and progressive reduction in efficacy. Mimicking [...] Read more.
Retinal ischemia is implicated in ocular diseases involving aberrant neovessel proliferation that characterizes proliferative retinopathies. Their therapy still remains confined to the intravitreal administration of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) medication, which is limited by side effects and progressive reduction in efficacy. Mimicking neovascular diseases in rodents, although of great help for translating fundamental mechanistic findings and assessing therapeutic potential in humans, is limited by the rodent’s short life span, which prevents retinal vessel proliferation over time. However, the oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model, which mimics retinopathy of prematurity, seems to meet some criteria that are common to proliferative retinopathies. The present review provides insight into preclinical models and their suitability to mimic proliferative retinopathies. Further considerations will be applied to emerging approaches and advanced methodologies for the management of proliferative retinopathies, leading to the identification of new therapeutic targets, including our contribution in the field. Major emphasis is given to the possibility of using systemic therapies either alone or in combination with intravitreal anti-VEGF administration to maximize clinical benefits by combining drugs with different modes of action. This review is concluded by an in-depth discussion on future advancements and a critical view of preclinical finding translatability. Despite the major effort of preclinical and clinical research to develop novel therapies, the blockade of VEGF activity still remains the only treatment for proliferative retinopathies for more than twenty years since its first therapeutic application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Increasing Incidence of Retinal Disorders: Addressing Preclinical Studies with Appropriate Animal Models and Advanced Methodologies)
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