Dr. Dongsheng Yan's laboratory is interested in studying epigenetic mechanism in eye development and disease. Epigenetics is a topic of heightening interest in ophthalmology because of its translational potential to develop novel strategies for improving treatment of anterior and posterior segment ocular diseases. This approach is of critical importance because currently in many cases the approaches in vogue only provide palliative relief without affecting the underlying mechanisms of sight compromising pathology. Epigenetic regulation entails DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs. As epigenetic modifications are implicated in an ever-increasing number of physiological and pathological processes, there is a burgeoning interest to identify associations between aberrant changes and dysfunctional responses underlying different ocular diseases. Specially, it is of great interest to us to realize the specific associations between non-coding RNAs and their numerous targets that are perturbed in blinding eye diseases such as uveal melanoma and diabetic retinopathy. Such insights will be helpful for developing novel strategies in order to establish effective treatments of ocular diseases and thereby reverse losses in visual acuity.

contact information:

Eye Hospital, School of Ophthalmology and Optometry

Wenzhou Medical University

270 Xueyuan Rd, Wenzhou, Zhengjiang

Phone: 0577-88067976

Fax: 0577-88067934

E-mail: dnaprotein@hotmail.com