The pathways and novel genes identified here highlight inflammation as a key response to AGE stimulation in primary culture of human RPE, and identify chemokine CXCL11 as putative novel agent associated with the pathogenesis of AMD.
Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction for representative M1 (CXCL11) and M2 (CCL22) transcripts were performed on macular choroidal trephines (MCT) of 19 AMD and nine non-AMD eye bank eyes, on the microdissected macular retinal cells from the archived slides of five geographic atrophic AMD, five exudative/neovascular AMD, and eight normal autopsied eyes, and on microdissected inflammatory cells from two surgically removed CNVM that did not respond to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy.