# AD-focused Administrative Supplement for NIH Grant Neuroprotective Role of Sirt6 in Glaucoma

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MED BR GALVESTON · 2021 · $395,000

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States that significantly impairs
patients' lifespan. In addition to dementia, visual impairments are very prevalent in AD patients and
significantly affect their life quality, cause behavioral challenges and even put safety risks to AD patients.
Meanwhile, poor vision is a contributing factor to dementia. Nevertheless, to date, few studies have been
conducted to address visual impairments in AD. Considering aging is the best known risk factor for AD,
strategies that can modulate aging process may have profound effects for AD management. One of the major
focuses in the parent award is to determine whether boosting expression of Sirt6, which is a key anti-aging
molecule, prevents mitochondrial dysfunction in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and therefore protects against
RGC injury and optic nerve degeneration in mouse models of glaucoma induced by elevated intraocular
pressure. In this application, we will conduct experiments to generate preliminary data to determine if Sirt6 also
plays a neuroprotective role in preventing the injury of RGCs and their axons in AD via inhibition of
mitochondrial dysfunction. In the future, based on pilot data from this work, we will further determine cellular
and molecular mechanisms by which Sirt6 prevents RGC injury and axonal degeneration in AD, and
investigate if pharmacologic activation of Sirt6 prevents vision loss in AD; moreover, we will test if boosting Sirt6
expression and activity alleviates behavioral deficits and neurodegeneration in the brain during AD, given that the
retina is an extension of the brain and shares many pathophysiological mechanisms of the brain. Overall, this
pilot project and its subsequent future studies will provide important new knowledge that may guide the
development of novel therapies for AD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10289439
- **Project number:** 3R01EY031054-01S2
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MED BR GALVESTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Hua Liu
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $395,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10289439

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10289439, AD-focused Administrative Supplement for NIH Grant Neuroprotective Role of Sirt6 in Glaucoma (3R01EY031054-01S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-08-03 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10289439. Licensed CC0.

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