Jiyang Cai
Professor
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
McGovern Medical School
Department of Ophthalmology
The back of the eye has immune privilege and under physiological conditions is protected from overt inflammation and autoimmune responses. With aging and age-related degeneration of the outer retina and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), the initial lesions recruit and activate cells from the innate and adapted immune systems. Their interactions determine the outcome as either inflammation resolution or exacerbated tissue injury. Our lab studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cell-cell interaction and cytokine-mediated signaling network during these processes. Our ongoing projects include examining the functional interactions of microRNAs in RPE-derived extracellular vesicles and mRNAs of subretinal microglia, and characterizing the role of Muller cell-produced IL-33 in pathogenic angiogenesis.
Education & Training
PhD, Emory University, 1999