Basic Science Research

Our research scientists work for a common mission: to help people see as well as they can see. Their laboratory studies lead to the discovery of new medical knowledge, to greater understanding of diseases, and to development of treatment applications and diagnostic methods that ultimately translate into a better quality of life for those afflicted with vision-related diseases.

Research News:  The “Bear” Facts

A synthetic version of bear bile has a yet-unexplored potential to treat the ravaging effects of diseases that can cause loss of vision, like retinitis pigmentosa (RP ), AMD and glaucoma. Bear bile has been used in Asia for more than 3,000 years to treat visual disorders and is still used in eye drops in traditional Asian medicine today.

In study results published in the December 29, 2007 issue of Molecular Vision, researchers found that systemic injection of synthetic tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), a primary component of bear bile, prevented retinal cell death and preserved the function and structure in photoreceptor cells in two different mouse models of retinal degeneration. Photoreceptor cells are the rods and cones in the retina that convert light into electrical impulses that go to the brain. Evidence indicates that synthetic formulations of bear bile are medically efficacious and inexpensive.

The study was conducted by principal investigator Jeffrey Boatright, other researchers at Emory, the Atlanta VA Medical Center, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Lisbon. It is funded in part by the Abraham J. and Phyllis Katz Foundation.

NEI grant helps direct medicine to the back of the eye—without the needles!

Current methods for the delivery of drug therapy for retinal disorders are eye drops, intravenous or intramuscular injections, oral administration or injections into the eye orbit, all of which have both advantages and disadvantages. To develop techniques for safer and more efficient drug delivery to the back of the eye, the NEI awarded a grant of approximately $7 million over 5 years to a team of investigators from the Eye Center and three other institutions, only the third such grant awarded.

“We’ve put together a joint program with expertise in pharmaceutical science, innovative drug techniques and tissue analysis to be sure we get to the tissues inside the eye,” says Henry Edelhauser, Eye Center director of research.

The multidisciplinary collaboration includes Eye Center basic science researchers, Jeff Boatright, Dayle Geroski and John Nickerson and ophthalmic pathologist, Hans Grossniklaus. Also contributing are researchers Uday Kompella
of the University of Nebraska; Allan Laties at the University of Pennsylvania; and Mark Prausnitz of Georgia Institute of Technology.

The grant may enable the team to develop novel transscleral approaches using nanoparticles, microneedles, collagen gels, iontophoresis and electoporation.