# Pathogenic Role of EPAC1 Signaling in Retinopathy of Prematurity

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MED BR GALVESTON · 2020 · $387,500

## Abstract

Project title: Pathogenic Role of EPAC1 Signaling in Retinopathy of Prematurity
SUMMARY
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the leading cause of vision impair and blindness in the USA in the
childhood. Laser photocoagulation is the standard-of-care for treating retinal neovascularization (NV) in ROP,
and supplement cryotherapy is occasionally used in severe cases. These treatments only target pathological
neovascularization (NV) and have many limitations. There is great need for new strategies and therapies to
target other aspects of the disease, including retinal neuronal injury, and promote vascular repair in addition to
the control of NV. This study is to determine the role of Epac1 in neuronal injury, pathological NV and
physiological vascular repair, and determine the therapeutic effect of Epac inhibitors. Our central hypothesis is
that Epac1 activation plays a key causal role in retinal neuronal injury, impairing vascular repair and promoting
retinal pathological neovascularization during oxygen-induced retinopathy. This application will, for the first
time, use Epac1 global KO mice, Epac1 conditional KO mice and novel Epac inhibitor to investigate the
cAMP/Epac1 pathway in retinal neuronal injury, NV and vascular repair. It will address specific contributions of
neuronal vs. endothelial Epac1 in these processes, and investigate potential mechanisms of Epac1-induced
retinal neuronal and vascular alternations. The research is expected to significantly advance the mechanistic
understanding of retinal neurovascular pathologic changes and should facilitate the development of novel
strategies to prevent NV, protect retinal neurons and improves vascular repair in ROP.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9948670
- **Project number:** 5R01EY026629-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MED BR GALVESTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Wenbo Zhang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $387,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-02-01 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9948670

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9948670, Pathogenic Role of EPAC1 Signaling in Retinopathy of Prematurity (5R01EY026629-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9948670. Licensed CC0.

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