Retinitis Pigmentosa News and Research

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Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the name given to a group of inherited eye diseases that affect the retina (the light-sensitive part of the eye). RP causes the breakdown of photoreceptor cells (cells in the retina that detect light). Photoreceptor cells capture and process light helping us to see. As these cells breakdown and die, patients experience progressive vision loss. The most common feature of all forms of RP is a gradual breakdown of rods (retinal cells that detect dim light) and cones (retinal cells that detect light and color). Most forms of RP first cause the breakdown of rod cells. These forms of RP, sometimes called rod-cone dystrophy, usually begin with night blindness. Night blindness is somewhat like the experience normally sighted individuals encounter when entering a dark movie theatre on a bright, sunny day. However, patients with RP cannot adjust well to dark and dimly lit environments.

UC San Diego researchers launch clinical trial to test gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have launched a first-in-human Phase I clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of a gene therapy to deliver a key protein into the brains of persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a condition that often precedes full-blown dementia.

18 Feb 2021

Study finds locations of early prion protein accumulation in the eye

The earliest eye damage from prion disease takes place in the cone photoreceptor cells, specifically in the cilia and the ribbon synapses, according to a new study of prion protein accumulation in the eye by National Institutes of Health scientists.

29 Jan 2021

Newly developed light-sensing protein restores vision in blind mice

A newly developed light-sensing protein called the MCO1 opsin restores vision in blind mice when attached to retina bipolar cells using gene therapy.

22 Oct 2020

Researchers design new ocular insert to administer antioxidants in the eye

Researchers from Valencia’s CEU Cardenal Herrera University have published their study on this new way to administer glutathione for the treatment of ocular diseases linked to oxidative stress in journal Pharmaceutics.

21 Oct 2020

First pathoconnectome shows how eye disease alters retinal circuitry

Scientists from the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah have achieved another first in the field of connectomics, which studies the synaptic connections between neurons.

30 Sep 2020

Study reveals how people with retinal degenerative disease can maintain night vision

New insight on how people with retinal degenerative disease can maintain their night vision for a relatively long period of time has been published today in the open-access eLife journal.

22 Sep 2020

Doctors with disabilities call for a paradigm shift to make medical education, profession more inclusive

Doctors treat and heal patients, but they are seldom seen as people who may themselves require care or accommodation. Medics with disabilities are now calling for a paradigm shift in this mindset to make medical education and the profession more inclusive.

21 Aug 2020

New cell injection technique could help reverse forms of vision loss

University of Toronto Engineering researchers have developed a new method of injecting healthy cells into damaged eyes.

13 Aug 2020

New nanoparticle-based artificial retina prosthesis restores vision in blind rats

An international team of scientists, of which the University of Granada (UGR) is a member, has developed a new nanoparticle-based artificial retina prosthesis that can be injected into the eye.

7 Jul 2020

Researchers develop artificial liquid retinal prosthesis to counteract the effects of eye disorders

Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) has led to the revolutionary development of an artificial liquid retinal prosthesis to counteract the effects of diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration that cause the progressive degeneration of photoreceptors of the retina, resulting in blindness.

30 Jun 2020

Hungarian physician to receive the Körber Prize for European Science 2020

The Körber Prize for European Science 2020, which is endowed with one million euros, is being awarded to the Hungarian physician Botond Roska.

23 Jun 2020

Researchers question the mechanism of retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers who made a knock-in mouse-model of the genetic disorder retinitis pigmentosa 59, or RP59, expected to see retinal degeneration and retinal thinning. As reported in the journal Cells, they surprisingly found none, calling into question the commonly accepted -- though never proved -- mechanism for RP59.

12 Jun 2020

Santen Pharmaceutical and jCyte conclude an exclusive licensing contract in Japan, Asia and Europe for the jCell therapy programme for retinitis pigmentosa

Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and jCyte Inc. announced the conclusion of an exclusive licensing contract covering the development, registration and commercialisation rights in Japan, Asia and Europe to jCell, a first-in-class investigational therapy, currently in clinical development for retinitis pigmentosa.

From Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 9 Jun 2020

Research pinpoints potential new therapeutic target for retinal degeneration

Multi-disciplinary work led by researchers from Trinity College Dublin has pinpointed a potential new therapeutic target for treating retinal degeneration. The work has discovered that a protein (SARM1) involved in neuronal cell injury may also have a role in the progression of retinal degeneration.

20 Apr 2020

Reprogramming skin cells into photoreceptors to restore vision in mice

Researchers have discovered a technique for directly reprogramming skin cells into light-sensing rod photoreceptors used for vision.

15 Apr 2020

Researchers restore sight in mice by turning skin cells into light-sensing eye cells

Researchers have discovered a technique for directly reprogramming skin cells into light-sensing rod photoreceptors for vision.

15 Apr 2020

Abnormal retinal gene function underlying vision loss in dogs

A canine study carried out at the University of Helsinki has described a gene variant in the regulatory region of the retina resulting in the abnormal function of retinal genes and, eventually, in the loss of vision in dogs.

10 Mar 2020

Preclinical data of Ocugen's OCU400 genetic modifier published in Nature Gene Therapy

Ocugen, Inc., a clinical-stage company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing transformative therapies to treat rare and underserved ophthalmic diseases, announced today the publication in Nature Gene Therapy of preclinical data of nuclear hormone receptor gene NR2E3 as a genetic modifier and therapeutic agent to treat multiple retinal degenerative diseases.

3 Mar 2020

New gene therapy improves vision in blind mice

Mice born blind have shown significant improvement in vision after undergoing a new gene therapy developed by a team of Japanese scientists.

7 Feb 2020

Gene therapy approach could pave the way for treatment of Stargardt disease

A leading Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford has shared the details of his research which could pave the way for a new treatment for sight loss condition Stargardt disease.