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About the Authors:
Audrey B. Condren
Affiliation: Unit on Neuron-Glia Interactions in Retinal Disease, National Eye institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Anil Kumar
Affiliation: Unit on Neuron-Glia Interactions in Retinal Disease, National Eye institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Pradeep Mettu
Affiliation: Unit on Neuron-Glia Interactions in Retinal Disease, National Eye institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Katharine J. Liang
Affiliation: Unit on Neuron-Glia Interactions in Retinal Disease, National Eye institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Lian Zhao
Affiliation: Unit on Neuron-Glia Interactions in Retinal Disease, National Eye institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Jen-yue Tsai
Affiliation: Biological Imaging Core, National Eye institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Robert N. Fariss
Affiliation: Biological Imaging Core, National Eye institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Wai T. Wong
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: Unit on Neuron-Glia Interactions in Retinal Disease, National Eye institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
Introduction
The choroid of the eye consists of a specialized vascular bed that supplies the outer retina. It provides metabolic support to the specialized functions of the photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and mediates thermoregulation, eye growth, and emmetropization [1]. Significantly, changes at the level of the choroid feature prominently in the pathology of multiple retinal diseases, particularly age-related macular degeneration (AMD) [2], [3]. Understanding the physiological functioning of the choroid and how it undergoes pathological transformations may be significant in considering choroid-directed therapies in the prevention and treatment of retinal disorders [4]–[6].
The normal physiological functioning of the choroid, as well as its pathological changein disease, have been associated with the perivascular component of the choroid. Perivascular mural cells located in close proximity to endothelial cells of choroidal vessels are thought to play a role in regulating blood flow and hence controlling metabolic supply to the outer retina. Inadequacy of this metabolic supply (otherwise termed “choroidal insufficiency”) has been hypothesized to be present in retinal diseases such as AMD [7]–[10] and diabetic retinopathy [11]–[13]. Perivascular cells around choroidal vessels have also been hypothesized to regulate the...