# Live Imaging and Functional Evaluation Core

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2022 · $138,425

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – LIFE CORE
 The SEI Vision Research Group has a longstanding track record of using mouse models
to study ocular processes and disorders. The in vivo characterization of these mouse models is
carried out using the testing modalities provided by the LIFE Core. This resource has been
available since 1999 as part of the Nusinowitz Laboratory and, since 2009, has been a
component of the SEI Core Grant. With the growth of projects using a wide variety of mouse
strains and mutants, and the expansion of translational research projects to modify or rescue
ocular disorders, the LIFE component technologies are crucial for monitoring a broad range of
experiments in living animals.
 The LIFE Core component will continue to offer a broad range of in vivo functional and
structural testing customized to the needs of the investigator's research interests. The LIFE
Core will be used to define the structural and functional phenotypes in acquired or newly
generated mouse mutants to confirm whether they display the expected phenotypes, visual
behavior and/or electrophysiological responses. In addition, investigators will continue to use
the LIFE Core to document the natural history of disease in mouse models before they are used
for interventional experiments, including those that are viral vector, stem cell, or
pharmacologically based.
 The LIFE directors are committed to the provision of state-of-the-art non-invasive
imaging and functional analysis of mouse models of ocular disease. Equipment and software
algorithms are upgraded on a regular basis. We recently updated our Bioptigen sd-OCT to
provide higher resolution retinal images and have added new optical bores to image the anterior
segment in rodents. The latter is a new capability and highlights our interest in broadening the
relevance of this resource to other investigators at SEI. In addition, we acquired a new Celeris
Electrodiagnostics System for functional evaluation of the retina and visual pathway that will
replace an aging custom-made system. Over the next study period we will expand the imaging
capabilities by adding a Heidelberg HRA-II for wide-field imaging of fluorescent biomarkers and
autofluorescence, and we will continue to work with our colleagues at Doheny Eye Institute, our
affiliated eye hospital, to develop OCT-A for the mouse. Lastly, we will be adding behavioral
testing of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity with the optokinetic reflex, and developing new
behavioral paradigms to study rod and cone function in retinal degeneration.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10430210
- **Project number:** 5P30EY000331-55
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Steven Nusinowitz
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $138,425
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-03-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10430210

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10430210, Live Imaging and Functional Evaluation Core (5P30EY000331-55). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10430210. Licensed CC0.

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