# Schlemm’s canal targeted-Tie2 knockdown as a mouse model of adult-onset ocular hypertension and glaucoma

> **NIH NIH R21** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2022 · $184,906

## Abstract

Glaucoma causes irreversible vision loss and blindness, but we still lack understanding of the multipart
mechanisms that cause and drive glaucoma progression. Animal models enable investigation of cellular and
molecular players throughout disease, and are essential for testing and optimizing new treatments. There is a
need for animal models that selectively model pathogenic events of human glaucoma to trigger
neurodegeneration with a predictable time of onset and progression. We have developed a mouse model that
selectively disrupts Schlemm’s canal (SC) expression of Tie2, which is associated with ocular hypertension
and glaucoma in humans. The studies proposed here will define the timecourse, sequence and variability of
functional and structural optic nerve and RGC neurodegeneration in this model. We will also develop a
CRISPR/Cas9 approach to disrupt Tie2 expression in SC, which could be applied independent of genetic
background. This project is expected to provide an inducible glaucoma model relevant to study the
pathogenesis of ocular hypertension and neurodegeneration, and a preclinical tool to evaluate new treatments
for human glaucoma.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10475817
- **Project number:** 5R21EY033131-02
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** ALEJANDRA BOSCO
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $184,906
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10475817

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10475817, Schlemm’s canal targeted-Tie2 knockdown as a mouse model of adult-onset ocular hypertension and glaucoma (5R21EY033131-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10475817. Licensed CC0.

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