The Persistence of Privilege for a Healthy Retina

Abstract

A minor haplotype of chromosome 10q26 accounts for much of the genetic risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In this issue of Immunity, Beguier et al. demonstrate that carriers of the 10q26 AMD-risk haplotype overexpress the peptidase HTRA1, which in turns results in mononuclear phagocyte persistence in an immune privileged site and pathogenic inflammation.