‘Y’ a Protein Unicorn Might Matter in Glaucoma

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October 19, 2017

Glaucoma

Basic Research

Grantee

A protein shaped like a 'Y' made NEI-funded scientists at Georgia Tech do a double-take and may change the way they think about the protein which is sometimes implicated in glaucoma.

Although the Y hasn’t been particularly implicated in glaucoma, its existence could meaningfully alter the way researchers understand myocilin and how it works in the eye. When myocilin goes wrong, or “misfolds,” it makes fibrils that damage tissue called the trabecular meshwork that normally allows the fluid inside the eye to drain and relieve interior pressure.