Targeting ELOVL2-Mediated Fatty Acid Elongation to Address Age-Related Vision Decline: Seminar by Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD

ICTER (International Centre for Translational Eye Research), ICTER is a multidisciplinary research centre, focused on the dynamics and plasticity of the human eye.

Can age-related vision decline be slowed or even partly reversed?

Today at ICTER we hosted Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD (Brunson Center for Translational Vision Research, UC Irvine School of Medicine) for a day of scientific exchange, a lab tour, a meeting with our Chair an PIs, and an inspiring seminar:

“Rescue of Age-related Vision Decline: Targeting ELOVL2-Mediated Fatty Acid Elongation”

Her message was striking. Small shifts in retinal lipids may play a big role in how the eye ages and could open new therapeutic paths.

Key takeaways:

• The retina is especially rich in VLC-PUFAs — lipids that help maintain healthy vision across the lifespan.
• ELOVL2 is essential for producing these fatty acids and is a robust biomarker of aging. Reduced activity appears to speed retinal functional decline.
• Early-stage findings suggest a potential “lipid replenishment” strategy may improve contrast sensitivity, support faster dark adaptation, reduce harmful deposits, and partly “rejuvenate” retinal gene expression.
• New human genetic data link ELOVL2 variants to intermediate AMD, strengthening the case for this pathway as a promising target for preventing age-related vision loss and possibly informing broader CNS aging research.

We’re grateful to Dr Skowrońska-Krawczyk for an engaging visit at the intersection of aging biology, lipid metabolism, and translational ophthalmology. Collaborations like this move us closer to turning fundamental discoveries into real-world impact for patients at risk of vision loss.