From the clinical perspective, we study the pathogenesis of glaucoma – the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide (although second in the United States).

Glaucoma is a disease in which the pressure inside the eye is too high relative to what the optic nerve can stand. Thus, you can think of glaucoma as an elevated eye pressure causing blindness by compressing the optic nerve (nerve that carries all the information that your eye “sees” and sends the information to the brain).Glaucoma is a disease in which the pressure inside the eye is too high relative to what the optic nerve can stand.

From a laboratory perspective, we are a molecular biology lab that investigates the regulation of extracellular matrix homeostasis in trabecular meshwork and uveoscleral tracks (the drains of the eye) and our model system is the eye with disease model of glaucoma. 

We employ relatively standard molecular biologic techniques (PCR, RT-PCR, viral transfection including silencing RNAs, cloning, Westerns, immunohistochemistry, etc.) in primary human cell cultures, perfused human cadaveric anterior segments (ex vivo physiology model), and knockout mice (in vivo). Specifically, we are interested in matricellular proteins on the synthesis side, and matrix metalloproteinases/TIMPs on the turnover side.

Publications (Select)

Entire publication list can be found here.

Publications (select):
  • Keller KE, Bhattacharya SK, Borras T, Brunner TM, Chansangpetch S, Clark AF, Dismuke WM, Du Y, Elliott MH, Ethier CR, Faralli JA, Freddo TF, Fuchshofer R, Giovingo M, Gong H, Gonzalez P, Huang A, Johnstone MA, Kaufman PL, Kelley MJ, Knepper PA, Kopczynski CC, Kuchtey JG, Kuchtey RW, Kuehn MH, Lieberman RL, Lin SC, Liton P, Liu Y, Lutjen-Drecoll E, Mao W, Masis-Solano M, McDonnell F, McDowell CM, Overby DR, Pattabiraman PP, Raghunathan VK, Rao PV, Rhee DJ, Chowdhury UR, Russell P, Samples JR, Schwartz D, Stubbs EB, Tamm ER, Tan JC, Toris CB, Torrejon KY, Vranka JA, Wirtz MK, Yorio T, Zhang J, Zode GS, Fautsch MP, Peters DM, Acott TS, Stamer WD. Consensus recommendations for trabecular meshwork cell isolation, characterization and culture. Exp Eye Res. 2018 Jun;171:164–173. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2018.03.001 Pubmed PMID: 29526795
  • Bailey JNC, Gharahkhani P, Kang JH, Butkiewicz M, Sullivan DA, Weinreb RN, Aschard H, Allingham RR, Ashley-Koch A, Lee RK, Moroi SE, Brilliant MH, Wollstein G, Schuman JS, Fingert JH, Budenz DL, Realini T, Gaasterland T, Scott WK, Singh K, Sit AJ, Igo RPJ, Song YE, Hark L, Ritch R, Rhee DJ, Vollrath D, Zack DJ, Medeiros F, Vajaranant TS, Chasman DI, Christen WG, Pericak-Vance MA, Liu Y, Kraft P, Richards JE, Rosner BA, Hauser MA, Craig JE, Burdon KP, Hewitt AW, Mackey DA, Haines JL, MacGregor S, Wiggs JL, Pasquale LR. Testosterone Pathway Genetic Polymorphisms in Relation to Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: An Analysis in Two Large Datasets. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2018 Feb 1;59(2):629–636. doi: 10.1167/iovs.17-22708 Pubmed PMID: 29392307
  • Rabin RL, Rabin AR, Zhang AD, Burney EN, Rhee DJ. Co-management of cataract and glaucoma in the era of minimally invasive glaucoma surgery. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2018 Jan;29(1):88–95. doi: 10.1097/ICU.0000000000000444 Pubmed PMID: 29064837
  • Aschard H, Kang JH, Iglesias AI, Hysi P, Cooke Bailey JN, Khawaja AP, Allingham RR, Ashley-Koch A, Lee RK, Moroi SE, Brilliant MH, Wollstein G, Schuman JS, Fingert JH, Budenz DL, Realini T, Gaasterland T, Scott WK, Singh K, Sit AJ, Igo RPJ, Song YE, Hark L, Ritch R, Rhee DJ, Gulati V, Haven S, Vollrath D, Zack DJ, Medeiros F, Weinreb RN, Cheng C-Y, Chasman DI, Christen WG, Pericak-Vance MA, Liu Y, Kraft P, Richards JE, Rosner BA, Hauser MA, Klaver CCW, vanDuijn CM, Haines J, Wiggs JL, Pasquale LR. Genetic correlations between intraocular pressure, blood pressure and primary open-angle glaucoma: a multi-cohort analysis. Eur J Hum Genet. 2017 Nov;25(11):1261–1267. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2017.136 Pubmed PMID: 28853718
  • Pasquale LR, Aschard H, Kang JH, Bailey JN, Lindström S, Chasman DI, Christen WG, Allingham RR, Ashley-Koch A, Lee RK, Moroi SE, Brilliant MH, Wollstein G, Schuman JS, Fingert J, Budenz DL, Realini T, Gaasterland T, Gaasterland D, Scott WK, Singh K, Sit AJ, Igo RP Jr, Song YE, Hark L, Ritch R, Rhee DJ, Gulati V, Havens S, Vollrath D, Zack DJ, Medeiros F, Weinreb RN, Pericak-Vance MA, Liu Y, Kraft P, Richards JE, Rosner BA, Hauser MA, Haines JL, Wiggs JL. Age at natural menopause genetic risk score in relation to age at natural menopause and primary open-angle glaucoma in a US-based sample. Menopause. 2017 Feb;24(2):150-156. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000000741. PubMed PMID: 27760082; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5266624.
  • Lee DY, Rhee DJ, Sayegh RR. A Slightly Displaced Pupil in One Eye. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016 Nov 1;134(11):1327-1328. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2016.2152. PubMed PMID: 27585363.
  • Scavelli K, Chatterjee A, Rhee DJ. Secreted Protein Acidic and Rich in Cysteine in Ocular Tissue. J Ocul Pharmacol Ther. 2015 Sep;31(7):396-405. doi: 10.1089/jop.2015.0057. Epub 2015 Jul 13. PubMed PMID: 26167673; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4575508.
  • Aung T, Ozaki M, Mizoguchi T, Allingham RR, Li Z, Haripriya A, Nakano S, Uebe S, Harder JM, Chan AS, Lee MC, Burdon KP, Astakhov YS, Abu-Amero KK, Zenteno JC, Nilgün Y, Zarnowski T, Pakravan M, Safieh LA, Jia L, Wang YX, Williams S, Paoli D, Schlottmann PG, Huang L, Sim KS, Foo JN, Nakano M, Ikeda Y, Kumar RS, Ueno M, Manabe S, Hayashi K, Kazama S, Ideta R, Mori Y, Miyata K, Sugiyama K, Higashide T, Chihara E, Inoue K, Ishiko S, Yoshida A, Yanagi M, Kiuchi Y, Aihara M, Ohashi T, Sakurai T, Sugimoto T, Chuman H, Matsuda F, Yamashiro K, Gotoh N, Miyake M, Astakhov SY, Osman EA, Al-Obeidan SA, Owaidhah O, Al-Jasim L, Al Shahwan S, Fogarty RA, Leo P, Yetkin Y, Oğuz Ç, Kanavi MR, Beni AN, Yazdani S, Akopov EL, Toh KY, Howell GR, Orr AC, Goh Y, Meah WY, Peh SQ, Kosior-Jarecka E, Lukasik U, Krumbiegel M, Vithana EN, Wong TY, Liu Y, Koch AE, Challa P, Rautenbach RM, Mackey DA, Hewitt AW, Mitchell P, Wang JJ, Ziskind A, Carmichael T, Ramakrishnan R, Narendran K, Venkatesh R, Vijayan S, Zhao P, Chen X, Guadarrama-Vallejo D, Cheng CY, Perera SA, Husain R, Ho SL, Welge-Luessen UC, Mardin C, Schloetzer-Schrehardt U, Hillmer AM, Herms S, Moebus S, Nöthen MM, Weisschuh N, Shetty R, Ghosh A, Teo YY, Brown MA, Lischinsky I; Blue Mountains Eye Study GWAS Team; Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium 2, Crowston JG, Coote M, Zhao B, Sang J, Zhang N, You Q, Vysochinskaya V, Founti P, Chatzikyriakidou A, Lambropoulos A, Anastasopoulos E, Coleman AL, Wilson MR, Rhee DJ, Kang JH, May-Bolchakova I, Heegaard S, Mori K, Alward WL, Jonas JB, Xu L, Liebmann JM, Chowbay B, Schaeffeler E, Schwab M, Lerner F, Wang N, Yang Z, Frezzotti P, Kinoshita S, Fingert JH, Inatani M, Tashiro K, Reis A, Edward DP, Pasquale LR, Kubota T, Wiggs JL, Pasutto F, Topouzis F, Dubina M, Craig JE, Yoshimura N, Sundaresan P, John SW, Ritch R, Hauser MA, Khor CC. A common variant mapping to CACNA1A is associated with susceptibility to exfoliation syndrome.Nat Genet. 2015 Apr;47(4):387-92. doi: 10.1038/ng.3226. Epub 2015 Feb 23. Erratum in: Nat Genet. 2015 Jun;47(6):689. PubMed PMID: 25706626; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4605818.
  • Pasquale LR, Jiwani AZ, Zehavi-Dorin T, Majd A, Rhee DJ, Chen T, Turalba A, Shen L, Brauner S, Grosskreutz C, Gardiner M, Chen S, Borboli-Gerogiannis S, Greenstein SH, Chang K, Ritch R, Loomis S, Kang JH, Wiggs JL, Levkovitch-Verbin H. Solar exposure and residential geographic history in relation to exfoliation syndrome in the United States and Israel. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2014 Dec;132(12):1439-45. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2014.3326. PubMed PMID: 25188364; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4268013.
  • Villarreal G Jr, Chatterjee A, Oh SS, Oh DJ, Kang MH, Rhee DJ.Canonical wnt signaling regulates extracellular matrix expression in the trabecular meshwork. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014 Oct 28;55(11):7433-40. doi: 10.1167/iovs.13-12652. PubMed PMID: 25352117; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4238318.
  • Swaminathan SS, Oh DJ, Kang MH, Rhee DJ. Aqueous outflow: segmental and distal flow. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2014 Aug;40(8):1263-72. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrs.2014.06.020. Review. PubMed PMID: 25088623; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4151118.
  • Chatterjee A, Villarreal G Jr, Rhee DJ. Matricellular proteins in the trabecular meshwork: review and update. J Ocul Pharmacol Ther. 2014 Aug;30(6):447-63. doi: 10.1089/jop.2014.0013. Epub 2014 Jun 5. PubMed PMID: 24901502; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4074754.
  • Feke GT, Bex PJ, Taylor CP, Rhee DJ, Turalba AV, Chen TC, Wand M, Pasquale LR. Effect of brimonidine on retinal vascular autoregulation and short-term visual function in normal tension glaucoma. Am J Ophthalmol. 2014 Jul;158(1):105-112.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2014.03.015. Epub 2014 Apr 5. PubMed PMID: 24709811.
  • Swaminathan SS, Oh DJ, Kang MH, Shepard AR, Pang IH, Rhee DJ. TGF-β2-mediated ocular hypertension is attenuated in SPARC-null mice. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014 Jun 6;55(7):4084-97. doi: 10.1167/iovs.13-12463. PubMed PMID: 24906856; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4078948.
  • Chatterjee A, Villarreal G Jr, Oh DJ, Kang MH, Rhee DJ. AMP-activated protein kinase regulates intraocular pressure, extracellular matrix, and cytoskeleton in trabecular meshwork. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014 Apr 8;55(5):3127-39. doi: 10.1167/iovs.13-12755. PubMed PMID: 24713487; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4023495.
  • Villarreal G Jr, Chatterjee A, Oh SS, Oh DJ, Rhee DJ. Pharmacological regulation of SPARC by lovastatin in human trabecular meshwork cells. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014 Mar 19;55(3):1657-65. doi: 10.1167/iovs.13-12712. PubMed PMID: 24474275.
  • Wiggs JL, Pawlyk B, Connolly E, Adamian M, Miller JW, Pasquale LR, Haddadin RI, Grosskreutz CL, Rhee DJ, Li T. Disruption of the blood-aqueous barrier and lens abnormalities in mice lacking lysyl oxidase-like 1 (LOXL1). Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014 Feb 10;55(2):856-64. doi: 10.1167/iovs.13-13033. PubMed PMID: 24425853; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3920824.
  • Cohen LP, Wong J, Jiwani AZ, Greenstein SH, Brauner SC, Chen SC, Turalba AV, Chen TC, Shen L, Rhee DJ, Wiggs JL, Kang JH, Loomis S, Pasquale LR. A survey of preoperative blood tests in primary open-angle glaucoma patients versus cataract surgery patients. Digit J Ophthalmol. 2014 Jun 30;20(2):20-8. doi: 10.5693/djo.01.2014.02.002. eCollection 2014. PubMed PMID: 25097461; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4120802.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Investigator
Cleveland FES Center

Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Case Western Reserve University

Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University

Director, University Hospitals Eye Institute
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

CONTACT INFORMATION

Program Contact
Douglas Rhee

Contact Number
(216) 844-8590

Contact Email
Douglas.Rhee@UHhospitals.org