CURRENT RESEARCH NEWS

Foundation News: The IRRF Invests in UAB’s Future

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:22:47 -0600

The International Retinal Research Foundation recently made an unrestricted grant of $250,000 to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Ophthalmology, to help in the University’s efforts to provide the very best care to their patients. “It is because of caring and committed donors like you that the Department of Ophthalmology will continue to grow and thrive,” remarked Ray Watts, MD, Senior Vice President for Medicine and Dean of the UAB School of Medicine. “Your generosity will help to strengthen our efforts to provide the best in total eye healthcare in Alabama and will allow us to focus on research as a centerpiece of our plans.”

Vitreous IGFBP-3 Effects on Müller Cell Proliferation and Tractional Force Generation

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:34:58 -0600

Previous studies from this laboratory revealed that vitreous insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) is a biologically active fragment of the intact protein. The goal of this study was to characterize its effects on Müller cell proliferation and tractional force generation, activities relevant to proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).
Conclusions: Intact IGFBP-3 modulates Müller cell tractional force generation stimulated by IGF-I and IGF-II while the effects of the vitreous-type fragment are limited to IGF-II. Porcine Müller cells proliferate in response to PDGF, but not IGF-I or IGF-II. Both forms of IGFBP-3 are also without mitogenic effects alone or in combination with IGFs. It appears that Müller cell tractional force generation in PDR is driven by vitreous IGF activity and proliferation is stimulated by growth factors outside of the IGF system.
To read the full text of this article, go to www.iovs.org/content/53/1/93.full.

Zeeshan Ahmed Cheema, MD Named the 2011 Alston Callahan, MD Visiting Scholar

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 10:54:36 -0500

Dr. Zeeshan A. Cheema, the 2012 Alston Callahan, MD Visiting Scholar, traveled from Sialkot Pakistan to Birmingham, Alabama USA to experience the hospitality of the Rotary Club of Birmingham and the International Retinal Research Foundation before heading on to the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Cheema is a faculty member of the United Doctors Welfare Health Organization, a charitable 100-bed hospital in Pakistan. Founded by Dr. Cheema’s late grandfather, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Cheema, the Hospital serves as the center where the bulk of cataract surgeries are performed in this part of the country.

The Rotary Club of Birmingham graciously hosted Dr. Cheema each evening, providing many social and cultural activities around the city. During the day, Dr. Cheema followed a rigorous and varied clinical schedule including interaction with peers, surgery observation, and patient follow-ups as well as a visit to the Alabama Eye and Tissue Bank and Cox Ocular Prosthetic Laboratories. After his Birmingham experience, Dr. Cheema traveled to Orlando, Florida to attend the 2011 Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology.

SIG: The Role of Astrocytes and Other Glial Cells in Retinal Function and Glaucoma.

Sun, 1 May 2011 09:10:03 -0500

The Lasker/IRRF Initiative will sponsor a Special Interest Group (SIG) at the 2011 annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). This SIG is designed to provide an update on the first set of workshops that culminated in the publication of the report Astrocytes and Glaucomatous Neurodegeneration in November 2010. A primary focus of the glaucoma initiative was on the possible roles of astrocytes, both positive and negative, on glaucoma pathology. Astrocytes – perhaps of several types – are present in and around the optic nerve head and in the ganglion cell layer. The optic nerve head is believed to be a critical site in the initiation of glaucoma because of the sectorial nature of retinal ganglion cell loss in glaucoma, the evidence for an axonal transport defect at the optic nerve head, and the many changes that occur in astrocytes at that location in glaucoma. Since changes in the optic nerve head are clearly implicated in the etiology of glaucoma, and the ganglion cells are the primary cell type lost in glaucoma, careful consideration of astrocytes as playing a key role in glaucoma is clearly warranted.

SIG: Cholesterol and Lipoproteins in Retinal Health and Maculopathy.

Sun, 1 May 2011 08:47:31 -0500

Christine A. Curcio, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has received IRRF funds for the third annual Special Interest Group (SIG) panel, to be held at the 2011 annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). This SIG focuses on Cholesterol and Lipoproteins in Retinal Health and Maculopathy and is co-organized by James T. Handa, MD (Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins). The large age-related deposition of neutral lipid in Bruch’s membrane of the human eye is related to the formation of drusen, fatty lesions located behind the retinal pigment epithelium in eyes with age-related macular degeneration. IRRF funds enable the participation of outside speakers from cardiovascular medicine, which has decades of laboratory and clinical experience in understanding and treating the effects of cholesterol deposition in vessel walls.

Claudin-19 and the Barrier Properties of the Human Retinal Pigment Epithelium

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:55:02 -0500

The above paper demonstrated that claudin-19 is the principal claudin of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) tight junctions, and without it the outer blood-retinal barrier does not function. Further, a serum-free medium promoted the maturation of hfRPE. This medium was designed for co-culture experiments using stem cell-derived RPE and retinal progenitors. This second result gives some insight into the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). When serum was re-added to the apical, but not the basal, surface of the RPE, the barrier became tighter than normal. This property might reflect a defense mechanism to slow the lateral spread of disease when capillaries invade the subretinal space.
The authors feel they have laid the foundations for understanding RPE/retinal transplantation by exploring the interactions important for forming a blood-retinal barrier, while learning about the effects of subretinal serum and inflammatory cytokines found in retinal disease. Also demonstrated was that RPE-retinal interactions are important for the differentiation/maturation of each tissue. This model will be continued to develop transplantable tissues of superior quality.
As a result of IRRF support, Dr. Rizzolo and staff have obtained funding from the State of Connecticut’s program for stem cell research to continue this project. In addition to the above publication, one manuscript in preparation, and a meeting abstract on the proof of the underlying premise of the project have all been achieved.

Lala Ceklic, MD Named 2010 Alston Callahan, MD Visiting Scholar

Wed, 2 Mar 2011 09:46:52 -0600

The Rotary Club Host Program, a partnership between Rotary Clubs and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), recognized the 2010 honorees at an International Welcome Luncheon, held in conjunction with the AAO meeting in Chicago last October. Among those in attendance was Lala Ceklic, MD from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Callahan Visiting Scholar. Dr. Ceklic was hosted by the Roanoke, Virginia Rotary Club and the International Retinal Research Foundation (IRRF) through the recently established Alston Callahan, MD, FACS Endowment Fund. (Above: Todd Lykberg, AAO Director of Development; Lala Cheklic, MD, 2010 Callahan Visiting Scholar; Sandra Blackwood, IRRF Executive Director)

Dr. Ceklic is an ophthalmologist and chief of the Eye Clinic of Eastern Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is actively involved in charity programs that provide cataract surgeries for poor and disabled individuals. She was hosted by the Roanoke, Virginia Rotary Club for a week where she shared in professional, educational, cultural and social experiences within the Roanoke area, followed by attendance at the 2010 Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology. While attending the AAO meeting in Chicago, Dr. Ceklic learned she had been awarded the Helmerich Retina Research Foundation Fellowship Award provided by the International Council of Ophthalmology Foundation.

IRRF-Supported Scientist Receives Title of Privatdozent

Wed, 2 Mar 2011 08:46:39 -0600

Lübeck, Germany – Martin Rudolf, MD has received the title of Privatdozent (equivalent to a Research Assistant Professor in the United States). After his research fellowship in 2008 with Professor Christine Curcio at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Rudolf returned to the Medical University Center Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany. Later that same year, he was awarded $100,000 by the IRRF for his proposed study, In vivo remodeling of Bruch’s membrane by targeting age-related lipid deposition via apolipoprotein mimetics, based on his fellowship work with Dr. Curcio. The study aims included remodeling of Bruch’s membrane by removing age-related lipid depositions via effective small molecule lipid acceptors. In 2009, Dr. Rudolf founded the Translational ARMD-Research Group Lübeck.

Curcio Awarded Prix Soubrane

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:14:32 -0600

Christine A. Curcio, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) was awarded the Prix Soubrane de la Recherche en Ophtalmologie for her work on retinal aging and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at the 6th annual Macula of Paris Congress held on January 14, 2011. The prize, a limited edition bronze medal, was presented to Dr. Curcio by Gisèle Soubrane, MD, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology and Chair Emeritus at the University of Paris East-Creteil (Photo above, left). Dr. Curcio’s collaborative work with Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois and UAB investigators developed a natural history and biochemical model for the cholesterol deposition occuring behind the retina throughout adulthood, contributing to the principal AMD lesions. This research was funded in part by 2001 and 2004 IRRF grants.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Janelia Farm Research Campus

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 15:20:35 -0500

Howard Hughes, an aviator, engineer, industrialist and philanthropist became one of the world’s wealthiest individuals at the age of 19 after inheriting the bulk of the Hughes Tool Company that was founded by his father in 1909. It is believed that the proximity of the deaths of his parents, (his mother in 1922 and his father in 1924) prompted Hughes to create a medical research laboratory dedicated to the Howard Hughes, an aviator, engineer, industrialist and philanthropist became one of the world’s wealthiest individuals at the age of 19 after inheriting the bulk of the Hughes Tool Company that was founded by his father in 1909. It is believed that the proximity of the deaths of his parents, (his mother in 1922 and his father in 1924) prompted Hughes to create a medical research laboratory dedicated to the understanding of the “genesis of life itself.” In 1953, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in Chevy Chase, Maryland, was formed with the express goal of basic biomedical research.

Today, that goal is being carried out at the HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus in Loudoun County, Virginia, situated on 689 acres of verdant countryside on the southern bank of the Potomac River, just 30 road miles from Washington, D. C. Serving as an intellectual hub for up to several hundred scientists from diverse disciplines, Janelia Farm supports the idea of collaborative teams working together to solve biological problems. This culture of ‘academic freedom’ allows scientists to pursue long-term projects that could not be accommodated within a standard grant proposal.

The architectural concept of Janelia included two central objectives – collaboration and flexibility.