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Macular Degeneration Research - Current Award

Photo Pending

David R. Hyde, Ph.D.

University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN, United States

Title: Generating a Zebrafish Model to Study AMD
Non-Technical Title: New Model of Macular Degeneration

Duration: July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2013
Award Type: Standard
Award Amount: $100,000


Summary:

This project will address if the loss of retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells is the primary or secondary cause of cone cell loss in macular degeneration. Using zebrafish, which possesses the ability to regenerate photoreceptor cells in the eye, we will also examine if the damaged RPE cells can be regenerated and the subsequent consequences on cone photoreceptor cell regeneration.

Details:

In age‐related macular degeneration (AMD), the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, which are located behind the retina and are essential to keep the light‐detecting rod and cone photoreceptor cells alive, are damaged and die. However, it is unclear if the RPE cell death is the primary cause of AMD or a secondary effect. To address this question, Dr. David Hyde and collaborators will generate a zebrafish model of AMD, where a number of the retinal RPE cells die. They will then test whether the death of RPE cells is sufficient to cause two hallmarks of advanced AMD—the death of the adjacent photoreceptor cells and the appearance of tears in the blood‐retina barrier (called Bruch’s membrane). Since zebrafish have a natural ability to regenerate a number of body parts, including retinal neurons, these researchers will also determine if the RPE cell layer can spontaneously repair itself and, if so, determine the origin of these new RPE cells. Studying how the zebrafish eye can repair its RPE and retina will give clues for future RPE cell replacement therapies for people with AMD.

Investigator Biography:

Dr. David Russell Hyde is a Professor of Biology and the Rev. Howard J. Kenna, C.S.C Memorial Director of the Center for Zebrafish Research at the University of Notre Dame. He completed his doctoral studies at the Pennsylvania State University and was a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology with Dr. Seymour Benzer. His laboratory develops neurodegenerative models in zebrafish to mimic human diseases and then studies how the fish rapidly and spontaneously regenerate neurons from an endogenous population of adult stem cells. While humans possess the same adult stem cell population as do the zebrafish, we lack this regenerative ability. Hyde's research team is focusing on how this neuronal regeneration process works in fish so they may develop therapies to induce neuronal regeneration therapies to correct human diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and Alzheimer's disease. In addition to his AHAF award, Hyde is funded by the National Eye Institute of NIH.