MERTK and diabetes mellitus: The situation is further complicated by the presence of AGEs in DR as Gal-3 is also a well-characterized member of the AGE receptor complex [155,170], and so it is possible that the EF-related role of soluble Gal-3 as apoptotic cell opsonin for MerTK by Muller cells [61] is reduced by competition with AGEs in the diabetic retina.