Development of Nanocarbon Antioxidants for Oxidative Stress Related Injury of the Retina

Optic neuropathy refers to dysfunction of the optic nerve and to the damage and death of retinal ganglion cells in particular. There; are multiple etiologies of optic neuropathy such as genetic, traumatic, inflammatory, and infectious, but oxidative stress is implicated in all of these. Nanocarbon antioxidants (NCA) have been designed to reduce oxidative stress in biological tissue at levels; where naturally derived antioxidants are ineffective. These NCAs can specifically target reactive oxygen species (ROS) more efficiently than biological antioxidant cascades, possibly because they specifically target ROS in the mitochondria and don't require cofactors or regeneration. Our central hypothesis is that optimally designed NCA will neutralize and sequester tissue damaging reactive oxygen species. We have demonstrated the safety of the nanoparticle in multiple cells lines, including ocular tissue.