# Control of Photoreceptor Metabolism

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $412,254

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
A general understanding of the metabolic needs of photoreceptors could lead to broadly
applicable therapeutic strategies to treat retinas stressed by diverse genetic and
environmental factors. With that in mind, we have been investigating the fundamental
nature of energy metabolism in the retina and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).
Photoreceptor metabolism is limited by the availability of nutrients from the RPE.
Evidence indicates that the retina and RPE function together as a network of
metabolically specialized and interdependent cells. We hypothesize that a deficiency in
any component of that network could lead to retinal degeneration as part of the failure of
the entire metabolic ecosystem. Our recent findings support this hypothesis. We have
proposed a model in which the flow of glucose from the choroidal blood through the RPE
to the retina is enhanced by lactate produced by glycolysis in photoreceptors. Lactate
not only fuels the RPE, but it also can influence the differentiation state of RPE cells.
These observations are the basis for the specific aims of this proposal. The first aim will
explore ways to enhance the flow of glucose across the RPE. The second aim will
investigate how lactate influences differentiation of RPE cells. This project will identify
ways to enhance the flow of glucose across the RPE to the retina. Our findings can be
used to design therapeutic approaches that make photoreceptors in an eye more robust
and resistant to genetic and environmental factors that normally would cause
photoreceptor degeneration.
.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10130528
- **Project number:** 5R01EY017863-12
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** JAMES Bryant HURLEY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $412,254
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2007-09-15 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10130528

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10130528, Control of Photoreceptor Metabolism (5R01EY017863-12). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10130528. Licensed CC0.

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