Interdependent roles of PKM2 in photoreceptors and RPE: implications for retinal degeneration
Ammaji Rajala, Rahul Rajala, Larissa J. Trevino, Tyler M. Black, Gennadiy Moiseyev, Michael Kinter, Raju V. S. Rajala · 2026
Read Interdependent roles of PKM2 in photoreceptors and RPE: implications for retinal degeneration by Ammaji Rajala, Rahul Rajala, Larissa J. Trevino, Tyler M. Black, Gennadiy Moiseyev, Michael Kinter, Raju V. S. Rajala (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13527088.txt.
Description
Ammaji Rajala and colleagues define, in a 2026 mouse study, the role of the metabolic enzyme PKM2 in keeping the retina alive. PKM2 both drives a sugar-burning step and helps switch genes on, coordinating energy and survival. The team mapped when and where each PKM form appears, then deleted PKM2 in specific retinal layers.
PKM2 appears by the second day after birth, before its sibling form, and concentrates in light-sensing photoreceptors, while PKM1 dominates in ganglion cells. Removing PKM2 from retina, rods, or the pigment epithelium weakened sugar metabolism, cut energy production, and caused disorganization and degeneration. In the pigment layer it also lowered a key visual-cycle protein and disturbed cone arrangement across the retina. Rod deletion worsened early degeneration in a disease model, underscoring metabolic interdependence.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Ammaji Rajala, Rahul Rajala, Larissa J. Trevino, Tyler M. Black, Gennadiy Moiseyev, Michael Kinter, Raju V. S. Rajala |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 68216 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |