# Administrative Supplement: Investigation of Zika Virus-Induced Retinopathy using Developing Mouse Retina

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MED BR GALVESTON · 2020 · $197,500

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
More than 60% of people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) exhibit decline in visual function(s) that significantly
affects life quality of AD patients. Meanwhile, poor vision also contributes to cognitive decline. Nevertheless, few
studies have been done to address the needs of how to prevent or treat vision loss in AD patients. One of the
major focuses in this award is to characterize retinal morphological, pathological and functional changes after
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection, and understand potential mechanisms (e.g. apoptosis and inflammation) by which
ZIKV-induced retinal neurodegeneration. In this application for Administrative Supplements, we propose to
conduct experiments to generate preliminary data to determine if ZIKV induces tau hyperphosphorylation and
aggregation, a hallmark and key mediator of AD, and test if tauopathy, similar to what happens in AD, is a key
player in retinal neurodegeneration during ZIKV infection and if ZIKV infection accelerates AD pathology in the
retina. The feasibility of the work proposed is strongly supported by data generated from the research progress
of the parental award and by our preliminary data. Based on pilot data from this work, in the future, we will apply
for funding to further determine cellular and molecular mechanisms by which ZIKV induces tau
hyperphosphorylation and aggregation, tau-mediated retinal neurodegeneration, and accelerated AD pathology.
The proposed pilot work, together with future studies following this work, is expected to significantly advance the
mechanistic understanding of the potential role of RNA viruses in the injury of retina and brain in AD, which may
facilitate the development of novel strategies to protect neurons in AD

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10123163
- **Project number:** 3R21EY029112-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MED BR GALVESTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Tian Wang
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $197,500
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2021-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10123163

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10123163, Administrative Supplement: Investigation of Zika Virus-Induced Retinopathy using Developing Mouse Retina (3R21EY029112-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10123163. Licensed CC0.

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