# Molecular Genetics of Eye Development

> **NIH NIH R01** · ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $334,000

## Abstract

Proneural bHLH proteins are master regulators of neural development that control the 
differentiation of rod and cone photoreceptor cells in the retina as well as retinal ganglion cells 
and amacrine cells, and also corneal nerves. These cells are required for vision and proper 
maintenance of the eye. Proneural bHLH proteins are transcription factors that only bind DNA in 
heterodimers with a ubiquitous class of E-protein bHLH proteins and are antagonized by the ID-class 
of HLH proteins.

Developmental genetic studies of the mechanisms of Extramacrochaetae function during eye 
development and differentiation will elucidate the unexpected new pathways of ID-protein function 
that have been discovered. To understand the function of this network of interacting proteins, 
biochemical methods will be used to determine the respective affinities of representative proteins 
for one another, and protein-protein interactions studied in tissue preparations to verify which 
protein associations occur in vivo in correlation with periods of active neurogenesis and which 
occur when neural development is quiescent. Because expression levels of the various proteins are 
regulated through protein stability, and potentially through modulation of dimerization affinities, 
the unidentified factors regulating stability and activity will be sought through genetic screens 
for modifiers of the ID-protein Extramacrochaetae and identified using a next-generation sequencing 
approach.

These studies are expected to reveal new regulators of neural development that are important in the 
eye. These studies are expected to suggest new routes to maintain and regenerate healthy eye 
tissues.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9872172
- **Project number:** 5R01EY028990-02
- **Recipient organization:** ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Nicholas E Baker
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $334,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-01 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9872172

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9872172, Molecular Genetics of Eye Development (5R01EY028990-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9872172. Licensed CC0.

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