Neuritin 1 Drives Therapeutic Preservation of Retinal Ganglion Cells in an Human Glaucoma Model.

Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness. Glaucomatous intraocular pressure (IOP) triggers deleterious effects, including gliosis, optic nerve (ON) axonal retraction, neurotrophic factor deprivation, inflammation, and other pathological events, leading to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss. Trophic factor impairment enhances RGC apoptosis susceptibility.

Normal-Tension Glaucoma and Potential Clinical Links to Alzheimer's Disease.

Glaucoma is a group of optic neuropathies and the world's leading cause of irreversible blindness. Normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) is a subtype of glaucoma that is characterized by a typical pattern of peripheral retinal loss, in which the patient's intraocular pressure (IOP) is considered within the normal range (<21 mmHg). Currently, the only targetable risk factor for glaucoma is lowering IOP, and patients with NTG continue to experience visual field loss after IOP-lowering treatments.

The ex vivo human translaminar autonomous system to study spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome pathogenesis.

Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) is a significant unexplained adverse reaction to long-duration spaceflight. We employ an ex vivo translaminar autonomous system (TAS) to recreate a human ocular ground-based spaceflight analogue model to study SANS pathogenesis. To recapitulate the human SANS conditions, human ocular posterior segments are cultured in the TAS model for 14 days.

An ex vivo model of human corneal rim perfusion organ culture.

The human anterior segment perfusion culture model is a valuable tool for studying the trabecular meshwork (TM) and aqueous humor outflow in glaucoma. The traditional model relies on whole eye globes resulting in high cost and limited availability. Here, we developed a glue-based method which enabled us to use human corneal rims for perfusion culture experiments.

A smartphone based method for mouse fundus imaging.

Noninvasive in vivo imaging of the mouse retina is essential for eye research. However, imaging the mouse fundus is challenging due to its small size and requires specialized equipment, maintenance, and training. These issues hinder the routine evaluation of the mouse retina.

Translaminar Autonomous System Model for the Modulation of Intraocular and Intracranial Pressure in Human Donor Posterior Segments.

There is a current unmet need for a new preclinical human model that can target disease etiology ex vivo using intracranial pressure (ICP) and intraocular pressure (IOP) which can identify various pathogenic paradigms related to the glaucoma pathogenesis. Ex vivo human anterior segment perfusion organ culture models have previously been successfully utilized and applied as effective technologies for the discovery of glaucoma pathogenesis and testing of therapeutics. Preclinical drug screening and research performed on ex vivo human organ systems can be more translatable to clinical research.

Effects of Toll-Like Receptor 4 Inhibition on Transforming Growth Factor-β2 Signaling in the Human Trabecular Meshwork.

Transforming growth factor-β2 (TGFβ2) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) crosstalk have been implicated in extracellular matrix regulation in the trabecular meshwork (TM) and ocular hypertension in mice. We investigated TLR4 expression in normal and glaucomatous human trabecular meshwork (HTM) sections and utilized a human perfusion organ culture model to determine TGFβ2-TLR4 signaling crosstalk in glaucoma. Expression of TLR4 was determined in TM of normal and glaucomatous human eyes.

CRISPR-Cas9-Based Genome Editing of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are the ideal cell source for autologous cell replacement. However, for patients with Mendelian diseases, genetic correction of the original disease-causing mutation is likely required prior to cellular differentiation and transplantation. The emergence of the CRISPR-Cas9 system has revolutionized the field of genome editing.

CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment of myocilin-associated glaucoma.

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss worldwide, with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) a major risk factor. Myocilin () dominant gain-of-function mutations have been reported in ∼4% of POAG cases. mutations result in protein misfolding, leading to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the trabecular meshwork (TM), the tissue that regulates IOP.

Patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells to evaluate the pathophysiology of TRNT1-associated Retinitis pigmentosa.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a heterogeneous group of monogenic disorders characterized by progressive death of the light-sensing photoreceptor cells of the outer neural retina. We recently identified novel hypomorphic mutations in the tRNA Nucleotidyl Transferase, CCA-Adding 1 (TRNT1) gene that cause early-onset RP. To model this disease in vitro, we generated patient-specific iPSCs and iPSC-derived retinal organoids from dermal fibroblasts of patients with molecularly confirmed TRNT1-associated RP.

Hypomorphic mutations in TRNT1 cause retinitis pigmentosa with erythrocytic microcytosis.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a highly heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by degeneration of the retinal photoreceptor cells and progressive loss of vision. While hundreds of mutations in more than 100 genes have been reported to cause RP, discovering the causative mutations in many patients remains a significant challenge. Exome sequencing in an individual affected with non-syndromic RP revealed two plausibly disease-causing variants in TRNT1, a gene encoding a nucleotidyltransferase critical for tRNA processing.

Optic nerve crush induces spatial and temporal gene expression patterns in retina and optic nerve of BALB/cJ mice.

Background: Central nervous system (CNS) trauma and neurodegenerative disorders trigger a cascade of cellular and molecular events resulting in neuronal apoptosis and regenerative failure. The pathogenic mechanisms and gene expression changes associated with these detrimental events can be effectively studied using a rodent optic nerve crush (ONC) model. The purpose of this study was to use a mouse ONC model to: (a) evaluate changes in retina and optic nerve (ON) gene expression, (b) identify neurodegenerative pathogenic pathways and (c) discover potential new therapeutic targets.