Press Release: Adult Human Retinas Can be Rejuvenated and Function Aft

Plus: New Use of Donor Tissue for Research, Drug Development, and Retinal Transplantation in the Future

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Partnerships

Several unique procedures and technical applications have been designed, tested, and refined in order to capture transretinal recordings from dissected retina taken from adult human donor eyes. In the near future, OcuScience will be starting a business focused on processing human donor retina for research, testing, and investigating retinal transplantation. To be successful, we will need to partner with the best organizations to build the business, infrastructure, and relationships that will give us the resources and knowledge to maximize the benefits to humankind. The potential of this new technology is huge. We need the support of many organizations.

Neuroscience and Vision Researchers

We have identified the critical methods needed to capture retina function in adult donor human eyes, and now have an established methodology which can be further improved by additional intellectual property introductions. In particular, we have a means to sustain the retina in transport with a specialized device, a unique dissection method that reliably yields a region specific response, and a proven transretinal recording system that is unique in controlling multivariable influences on the data including electromagnetic noise, continuous nutrient perfusion, regulated physiological tissue support (temperature, perfusion rate and pH), and control of input electrode impedance. The nutrient solution may be augmented with various chemicals which assist in preserving the function and tissue integrity.

Are you interested in our unique new methods and transretinal recording system? Would our system benefit your research lab?

Visit the Journal of Visualized Experiments for Access to an Instructional Video About Our Ex Vivo Technology.

Pharmaceutical Applications

Our system promises to be a novel drug development tool using our unique adult human donor tissue model, and may become a significant improvement in testing pharmaceuticals for toxicology and pharmacological effects. A significant advantage of our technology is our ability to test actual human disease models such as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), Diabetic Retinopathy, Retinitis Pigmentosa, hereditary diseases, and nearly all disease states that are known to affect electrophysiology of photoreceptors, glial cells, ganglion cells, as well as the associated neurotransmission.

Since the eyes are the window to the brain, we can see the effects of drugs, not only on the retina, but also the central nervous system. The implications for advancing ophthalmic and neurological drug testing using human donor tissue are huge. We are uniquely positioned to deliver a novel service to pharmaceutical companies using the retina as a biosensor. Our system will potentially better predict safety and efficacy prior to living human clinical trials. By using ex vivo retinal ERG responses, we will now have a closer analogy to a living human. Drug effect can be tested in human retina tissue before being put in a living human.

There are several significant opportunities in drug development using our system

The dose response and therapeutic profile will be more accurate as compared to animal studies, simply because the model is actual human tissue.
Since the drug profile will be better understood, fewer animals will need to be sacrificed in the preclinical and subsequent phases of regulatory approval.
Our system will also make it possible to conduct high throughput analysis of various biologics to measure their physiological effect on human donor retina. By accelerating the identification of target molecule physiological effect on the retina, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and similar neurological tissue, we will be able to efficiently identify candidate drugs for many human diseases.
There is a huge opportunity to access a nearly infinite supply of tissue from adult human donor tissue to conduct pharmacogenomic studies to better understand hereditary effects.
The system stability and repeatability of the data make it possible to introduce biologics and quantitatively observe the delta between baseline and treatment in a dose-dependent manner (see figures A & B below)

Contact us today if you’re interested in a new way of testing your pharmaceuticals, would like to have a significant impact on your costs and time to develop ophthalmic and neurological drugs, or if you would like to find out how to incorporate our system into your facility.

The Gift of Sight - Become an Eye Donor

OcuScience is trying hard to help the scientific community develop new ophthalmic drugs, and to further the discoveries of human specific diseases of the eye. We want to help cure blindness! We need your help and support, though. Have you considered becoming an eye donor? Donating your eyes to the scientific field of vision research can help future generations have a fighting chance of overcoming the huge obstacle we call blindness.

Meet The Inventors

Daniel C. Lindgren, President - OcuScience®

Daniel Lindgren is the president of OcuScience®, an ophthalmic device developer and manufacturer with operations in Missouri and Nevada. He holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from Missouri University of Science & Technology, and a Masters in International Business from the Boeing Institute, Saint Louis University. Mr. Lindgren also completed the Kauffman Entrepreneurial Internship Program. He has extensive experience in a variety of industries including software development, medical device development, manufacturing, management consulting, and pharmaceutical science. Daniel is credited with the development of several innovative medical devices, and also collaborates with several universities on eye research. Mr. Lindgren's volunteer activities include founding Member at Large for the Mid-America Medical Reserve Corps. He is also a member of Lions International, and is a veteran US Army Military Police Officer. Daniel is married with three children and lives in Henderson, Nevada.

Frans Vinberg, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Scholar – Washington University School of Medicine

Dr. Vinberg uses his solid educational background in photoreceptor physiology, biophysics and biomedical engineering to study the function of normal and diseased mammalian (including primates and humans) rod and cone photoreceptors by modern electrophysiology, genetics, and pharmacology methods. He has contributed significantly to the development and spreading of an electrophysiology method, Ex Vivo electroretinogram that facilitates our understanding of retinal physiology and pathology, as well as discovery of drugs against human retinal diseases. His research has resolved fundamental questions about our ability to sense near infrared light and adapt rapidly to changing illumination levels via calcium-dependent mechanisms. Dr. Vinberg’s objective is to advance our knowledge about the physiology and pathology of retinal cells at the molecular level, by conducting high impact research and developing better functional assessment methods that will advance the discovery of new treatments against human blinding diseases.

Mitchell D. McCartney, Ph.D., Scientific Director – Lions Eye Institute for Transplantation & Research

Dr. McCartney came to LEITR after 20+ years of management experience in the pharmaceutical industry, focusing on ophthalmic diseases. As LEITR’s Scientific Director, he is responsible for developing scientific strategies for pre-clinical research. He has established in vitro and ex vivo model programs for ocular diseases with a focus on corneal disease, macular and retinal disease, and glaucoma. He has built and manages collaborative research teams, including formulating and implementing policies, procedures and budgets. Dr. McCartney has expanded LEITR’s research collaborations with scientists that are working to discover the underlying mechanisms of ocular disease, as well as clinical scientists dedicated to improving and enhancing patient outcomes. In past positions he has designed, conducted and interpreted hypothesis-driven experiments examining ultrastructural changes for in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro animal and human models of ocular diseases (corneal wound healing, dry eye, retinal degeneration, neovascularization, glaucoma) to evaluate pharmaceutical products and medical devices.

Jeff Clark, B.Sc., Former Director of Customer Support - OcuScience®

Jeff Clark received his B.Sc. in biology, with a minor in chemistry from Washburn University in Topeka, KS. Mr. Clark provided extensive product training, technical direction, and clinical support for the OcuScience® line of precision ophthalmic devices and has performed over 500 in-vivo ERG exams on a variety of species including; mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, and horses, in accordance with laboratory and clinical protocols. Mr. Clark also served as a technical instructor at CE approved courses, wet labs, and workshops that OcuScience® offered to vision researchers and clinicians.

Press Release: Adult Human Retinas Can be Rejuvenated and Function After Death