# Retinal sheet transplant impact on functional organization of visual cortex in retinal degenerate animal models

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2024 · $583,625

## Abstract

Millions of people worldwide suffer vision loss from progressed stages of age-related macular degeneration
and retinitis pigmentosa. Through the disease, much of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and many
photoreceptors are irreversibly lost and new cutting edge treatments using trophic factors or gene therapy are
ineffective because the tissues are no longer present to be rescued. Our goal is to remediate vision loss
through transplantation of retinal progenitor tissue sheets into the degenerated retina. In rodent models of
retinal degeneration (RD), several studies have demonstrated that retinal progenitor sheets successfully
integrate into the host retina, through synaptic connectivity between the transplant retina and host, and evoke
responses to flashes of light in the superior colliculus (SC, a midbrain visual nucleus and direct target of retinal
ganglion cells). However, in order to determine the complexity and quality of visual information provided by the
transplant visual responsivity must be determined at a greater level of detail and in structures such as higher
visual cortex where more complex visual processing occurs.
 Our main hypothesis is that transplants of fetal- and hESC-derived retinal progenitor sheets will
drive complex and specialized visual responses in visual cortex (Aims 1 and 2), as well as visually guided
behavior, and, that feedforward and feedback cortical circuitry at the level of specific neuronal cell types will be
more similar to normal rats than RD rats without transplants (Aim 3). These studies will be performed using two
rat models that are effectively blind by 3 months of age - through a collaboration combining visual
neurophysiology expertise and cutting edge neural circuit tracing using genetically modified rabies viruses from
the PI with the unrivaled surgical skills for retinal sheet transplantation and expert breeding knowledge of
transgenic RD rats by the CO-PI.
 This project directly addresses the NEI Audacious Goals Initiative to regenerate the eye and visual
system.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10819561
- **Project number:** 5R01EY032948-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** David C Lyon
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $583,625
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-05-01 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10819561

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10819561, Retinal sheet transplant impact on functional organization of visual cortex in retinal degenerate animal models (5R01EY032948-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10819561. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*