# Neuronal development, injury and repair in retina

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $441,544

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Injuries or diseases that kill retinal neurons or photoreceptors block vision at it source. The
inability to repair the retina is a hallmark of the human nervous system; neurons that die are not
replaced and functions that are lost are not recovered. This bleak outcome is a driving force for
research on neural stem cells and the field of regeneration biology. The long-term objective of
this project is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that regulate the birth, death and
regeneration of neurons and photoreceptors in the vertebrate retina. This program of research
utilizes the zebrafish retina, the only vertebrate CNS tissue in which intrinsic stem cells can
regenerate a single neuronal type that integrates into existing synaptic circuits or regenerate all
cell types that completely restore the original tissue. Investigating stem cell-based
developmental and regenerative neurogenesis will advance our knowledge of the mechanisms
that govern retinal stem and progenitor cells and will guide the therpeutic use of stem and
progenitor cells to treat retinal injuries, blindness and disease. Three Specific Aims are
proposed, each directed toward revealing mechanisms that regulate the genesis and
regeneration of retinal neurons and photoreceptors. Specific Aim 1 will test the hypothesis that
photoreceptor genesis is governed through post-transcriptional regulation of NeuroD by the the
microRNA, miR-18a. Specific Aim 2 will determine the combined and independent functions of
the Midkine paralogs during retinal development and photoreceptor regeneration. Specific aim 3
will test the hypothesis that the matrix metalloproteinase, MMP9, is induced in Müller glia by
TNF-α, and together these molecules are components of an acute inflammatory response that
governs photoreceptor regeneration. Together these specific aims represent a focused and
integrated research program to test specific hypotheses about the biology and regulation of
developmental neurogenesis and adult photoreceptor regeneration in the vertebrate retina. This
program of research will expand our knowledge of photoreceptor death and regeneration and
the molecular mechanisms that regulate retinal stem and progenitor cells. These studies also
will have implications for the NEI Audacious Goals Initiatives.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9857593
- **Project number:** 5R01EY007060-29
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Peter F Hitchcock
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $441,544
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1987-05-01 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9857593

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9857593, Neuronal development, injury and repair in retina (5R01EY007060-29). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9857593. Licensed CC0.

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