Retinal plasticity in experimental glaucoma.

Samsel, Paulina Anna 2010. Retinal plasticity in experimental glaucoma. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.

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Abstract

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of vision loss in the world. In the commonest form of the disease, chronic open angle glaucoma, increased intraocular pressure (IOP) is associated with accelerated death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and consequent loss of visual field. Currently, there is no treatment to recover lost vision. If surviving tissue could be regenerated on the basis of its plasticity in glaucomatous eye, visual impairment associated with glaucoma might be potentially reversed. The project was to determine if RGC remodelling in glaucoma might be driven by combined IOP reduction and manipulation of retinal perineuronal nets to form a neural substrate for the recovery of vision loss in glaucoma The purpose of the initial part of the study was to establish an in vitro model of glaucoma such as retinal explant culture to analyse morphological changes of RGCs over a period of time. Biolistic transfection of retinal explant culture has been optimised to study remodelling of adult RGCs in vitro. Broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor enhanced RGC survival and axonal regrowth while exogenous BDNF enhanced the number of growth cones on the axons of RGCs.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Optometry and Vision Sciences
Subjects:	R Medicine > RE Ophthalmology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	28 Jun 2019 02:40
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/54163

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