A team of IVR researchers investigated the impact of under- and over-expressing complement factor H (CFH) in choroidal endothelial cells. This research was published in The Journal of Pathology (LINK).

This study used siRNA knockdown of CFH and lentiviral over-expression of CFH in human choroidal endothelial cells to study the effects of modulating the expression of CFH. Of note, when CFH expression was decreased, an increase in the deposition of the membrane attach complex (MAC) was observed. Similarly, over-expression of CFH was found to decrease the amount of MAC deposition.

These results suggest that production of factor H in the choroid protects against the deposition of the membrane attack complex, which may halt or delay the development of AMD