Neutrophil extracellular traps target senescent vasculature for tissue remodeling in retinopathy

Remodeling senescent blood vessels The retina is a thin layer of nervous tissue at the back of the eye that transforms light into neuronal signals. The retina is essential for vision and is supported by networks of blood vessels. In diabetic retinopathy, a common cause of vision loss, these microvessels degenerate and regrow in an aberrant manner. Such degeneration and regrowth can compromise the functioning of retinal nerve cells. Binet et al. observed that, after rapid proliferation, vascular endothelial cells in diseased blood vessels engaged molecular pathways linked to cellular senescence (see the Perspective by Podrez and Byzova). Senescent vascular units summoned an inflammatory response in which neutrophils extruded neutrophil extracellular traps onto diseased vessels to remodel them. This endogenous repair mechanism promoted the elimination of senescent blood vessels and could lead to beneficial vascular remodeling. Science , this issue p. eaay5356 ; see also p. 919