“Super p53” Mice Display Retinal Astroglial Changes

Tumour-suppressor genes, such as the p53 gene, produce proteins that inhibit cell division under adverse conditions, as in the case of DNA damage, radiation, hypoxia, or oxidative stress (OS). The p53 gene can arrest proliferation and trigger death by apoptosis subsequent to several factors. In astrocytes, p53 promotes cell-cycle arrest and is involved in oxidative stress-mediated astrocyte cell death. Increasingly, astrocytic p53 is proving fundamental in orchestrating neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis. In terms of ocular disease, p53 may play a role in hypoxia due to ischaemia and may be involved in the retinal response to oxidative stress (OS). We studied the influence of the p53 ge…