How the retina works during vision loss
Physiology of Retinal Degeneration
Researchers will record how light-sensing cells and their partners change during inherited retinitis pigmentosa in mice to learn how remaining retinal cells keep sending visual signals.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California Los Angeles NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11324885 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project uses mouse models that mimic inherited rod-driven retinal degeneration to record electrical signals from single photoreceptors (rods and cones) and their connected bipolar cells. Scientists will measure membrane voltage, light-evoked currents, input resistance, and calcium-channel activity as degeneration progresses in both fast and slow genetic models. By comparing these changes, they aim to understand how rods change and how the rest of the retina adapts to preserve visual processing. That knowledge could help guide strategies to protect surviving cells or to introduce new photoreceptors in future therapies.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Patients with inherited rod-dominant retinal degenerations, such as autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa, would be most likely to benefit from the findings and could be candidates for future related trials.
Not a fit: People with vision loss from non-rod causes, unrelated eye diseases, or those with complete end-stage vision loss are unlikely to see direct, near-term benefits from this preclinical work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could reveal how surviving photoreceptors and retinal circuits keep working and guide treatments that better preserve or restore vision in retinitis pigmentosa.
How similar studies have performed: Previous lab work has shown cones can remain light-sensitive and form new synapses during degeneration, but detailed single-cell studies of rod physiology in progressing degeneration are less common, so this work builds on earlier findings and addresses new gaps.
Where this research is happening
Los Angeles, United States
- University of California Los Angeles — Los Angeles, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sampath, Alapakkam P — University of California Los Angeles
- Study coordinator: Sampath, Alapakkam P
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.