Symposium: Opportunities, Hopes, and Challenges in Translating Visual Restoration from Mouse to Human

STRIA TECHEvents, Journal Club, Latest News

Striatech celebrates its 5th anniversary with a top-class Symposium on the topic of translating visual restoration from mouse to human. Presentations will be given by Professor Eberhart Zrenner (University of Tübingen), Professor Constance Cepko (Harvard Medical School) and Miikka Terho (Pioneer Retina Implant Patient, Finland). In addition, the speakers will highlight important aspects and directions in this area of research in a moderated panel discussion.

Neurovascular injury associated non-apoptotic endothelial caspase-9 and astroglial caspase-9 mediate inflammation and contrast sensitivity decline

Lena SchadockLatest News

Neurovascular injury, such as retinal vein occlusion, triggers expression of endothelial caspase-9 (EC Casp9). EC Casp9 induces pathological changes, including retinal edema, capillary ischemia, and neurodegeneration. One of the behavioral consequences is decline of contrast sensitivity, as shown with our OptoDrum. This paper gives new mechanistic insights into EC Casp9 action.

B cell-dependent EAE induces visual deficits in the mouse with similarities to human autoimmune demyelinating diseases

Muriel Haag

The experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model is commonly used to study visual impairments associated with autoimmune demyelinating diseases. EAE is classically induced by immunization with the peptide MOG35-55. This mouse model lacks certain characteristics of analog diseases in humans, in particular the participation of B-cells in the immune response. Joly et al characterize the effects of immunization with a different peptide, bMOG, and find that these mice show hallmarks of common human diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. This new mouse model therefore offers new avenues to test protective or restorative ophthalmic treatments.

Systemic Treatment with Pioglitazone Reverses Vision Loss in Preclinical Glaucoma Models

Muriel Haag

In two mouse models of Glaucoma, Zeng et al show that Pioglitazone, given orally, can reduce or even reverse vision loss. Pioglitazone reduces inflammatory responses. The positive effects could be observed even with continued elevation of intraocular pressure, suggesting that the neuroinflammation experienced during Glaucoma may be more harmful than the elevated pressure.