On March 22nd and 23rd, 2019, the 14th International Research Colloquium of PRO RETINA took place in Potsdam. A highlight of the Potsdam meeting is the awarding of the most outstanding poster contributions.

The PRO RETINA Foundation for Prevention of Blindness awarded the poster of Dr. Blanca Arango-Gonzalez, member of the Molecular Biology of Retinal Degenerations group, headed by Prof. Marius Ueffing, at the Institute for Ophthalmic Research, at Tübingen University, Germany.

The central research goal of Dr. Arango-Gonzalez is the understanding and restoration of proper protein homeostasis (proteostasis) in a dominant form of retinitis pigmentosa. In this hereditary human retinal disease mis-folding of rhodopsin causes a progressive loss of retinal photoreceptors.

Establishing organotypic retinal cultures from a P23H rhodopsin transgenic rat model for this disease, Blanca Arango-Gonzalez and co-authors demonstrate, that pharmacological interference into proteasome-mediated protein degradation efficiently stems photoreceptor degeneration.  Additionally, the study shows that a single treatment can restore proper and long-term trafficking of rhodopsin into photoreceptor outer segments, a process disrupted due to the P23H rhodopsin mutation.  Improved trafficking improves outer segment structure and function demonstrated by improved electrophysiological response of the treated retina to light.

About PRO RETINA

PRO RETINA Germany, founded in 1977, is a patient organization with a longstanding commitment “to encourage ophthalmic research, to battle disease and to ensure a self-determined life of persons with retinal degeneration”. In continuation of its many activities in supporting these goals, PRO RETINA Germany also sponsors the Potsdam meeting series since its beginnings in 2005.