Investigating AMD-Like Disease in Animal Models

This project will use unique small animal models to investigate mechanisms of retinal degeneration associated with age-related macular degeneration and inform future treatment development.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) research has been hindered by the lack of models that encapsulate its complex features. An important feature of AMD is retinal deposits of fat and protein debris, but researchers know little about where they come from and how they may confer an increased risk of severe AMD in the people who have them. To address this, researchers have created two animal models that develop two different types of AMD-associated retinal deposits. This work will provide significant insight into the deposit origin, treatments, and causative relationship to severe AMD.

This proposal introduces two new animal models of AMD. The identification and development of new models is extremely important because the retina is complex and has close relationships with support cells like the retinal pigment epithelium and Muller glia that do not exist in cell culture models. Animal models that develop hallmarks of AMD allow us to build a foundation of knowledge that will lead to many breakthroughs in our understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying AMD by tracking disease progression and developing new therapeutics through genetic modification and pharmaceuticals.

The characterization of these new animal models will help us to build a foundation of knowledge upon which we can build upon to learn more about the cellular processes that underlie AMD. They will help us to ask questions about: changes that occur in early AMD that are not detectable in the clinic, potential biomarkers of AMD and their relationships with severe disease progression, and new cellular pathways that we can exploit to develop new and effective treatments for AMD.