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B70 - Born to See Again: Cellular and Molecular Secrets of the Newt Eye
In the United States, 11.8 million people are currently affected by retinal diseases which impact their vision.
B70 - Born to See Again: Cellular and Molecular Secrets of the Newt Eye
Mentor: Katia Del Rio-Tsonis, Ph.D.
In the United States, 11.8 million people are currently affected by retinal diseases which impact their vision. The ability to regenerate the retina following injury is present in a limited number of vertebrates. The newt Pleurodeles waltl (P. waltl), possesses the ability of retinal regeneration by retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) reprogramming throughout its lifespan. However, it is unknown whether this process requires the activation of cellular events that occur during development. Therefore, in this project, our goal was to characterize newt eye morphogenesis, with a particular focus on RPE and retinal development to identify cellular and molecular mechanisms necessary for retina regeneration in P. waltl to apply it to species with limited regenerative abilities, such as humans.