New Peptide LCKLSL Shows Promise Against Pathological Eye Blood Vessel Growth

Pathological retinal neovascularization (RNV), the uncontrolled growth of new, fragile blood vessels in the retina, is a leading cause of severe vision loss in diseases like diabetic retinopathy and wet age-related macular degeneration. These abnormal vessels are prone to leakage and hemorrhage, leading to retinal damage and scarring. Current treatments often involve anti-VEGF injections, which can have limitations and side effects. This study explores whether the short peptide LCKLSL, by targeting ANXA2, can effectively inhibit pathological retinal neovascularization.

Treatment with LCKLSL significantly suppressed the development of retinal neovascularization compared to the vehicle control group. > The LCKLSL-treated group exhibited a remarkable 43% reduction in the total neovascular area (p<0.001), demonstrating potent anti-angiogenic effects. Furthermore, the peptide treatment led to a 2.5-fold decrease in the expression of ANXA2 (Annexin A2), a protein known to promote angiogenesis, within retinal endothelial cells (p<0.01). The number of pathological neovascular tufts, a direct measure of abnormal vessel growth, was also significantly lower in the treated group, averaging 8.5 tufts compared to 15.0 tufts in the control group (p<0.005). These findings strongly suggest that LCKLSL mediates its therapeutic effects by downregulating ANXA2.