Nature’s Way of Healing Eye Injuries
Peter Hitchcock, who studies the
fish’s remarkable ability to make new neurons that repair the retina
and restore sight after an injury.
Photo:
Lin Goings |
When a teleost, or bony, fish experiences an injury to its retina,
it is able to do something that humans cannot. It regenerates retinal neurons,
repairs the damage, and restores vision. Fish are among two classes of vertebrates
— amphibians being the other — that make new retinal neurons throughout
their lifetimes.
Kellogg Eye Center scientist Peter F. Hitchcock, Ph.D., is studying this biological
phenomenon because it could provide insights into therapies for human retinal
injuries and other neural disorders. Among the more dramatic possibilities is
that of transplanting stem cells capable of generating new tissue to heal injuries
to the retina or central nervous system. Hitchcock, associate professor of cell
and developmental biology and associate professor of ophthalmology in the U-M
Medical School, says, “We know that stem cells reside in the retinas of
fish. The fish does naturally what medicine would like to do therapeutically.”
The cellular structure of this cross-section
of the retina of a teleost fish is essentially identical to that of the
human retina. |
Hitchcock’s study of neurogenesis in fish is important
because the process is similar to that in the human nervous system. Vertebrates
— including humans and fish — share a similar retinal anatomy and
physiology.
Currently, Hitchcock and his colleagues are trying to identify
the genes that regulate the production of new retinal neurons under normal conditions
and during regeneration following an injury. Says Hitchcock, “Identifying
the gene is just the beginning, because that allows you to move on to the really
interesting biological questions — how these genes function, which cells
express them, and what roles they play in retinal repair.”
Hitchcock’s research is funded in part by the National Eye Institute.
—BN
Read the complete article at:
www.kellogg.umich.edu/patient/advances.html
For more information on Peter Hitchcock’s research:
www.kellogg.umich.edu/bios/peter_hitchcock.html
See the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Web site at:
www.kellogg.umich.edu
 
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