A New Promoter Allows Optogenetic Vision Restoration with Enhanced Sensitivity in Macaque Retina.

ABSTRACT: The majority of inherited retinal degenerations converge on the phenotype of photoreceptor cell death. Second- and third-order neurons are spared in these diseases, making it possible to restore retinal light responses using optogenetics. Viral expression of channelrhodopsin in the third-order neurons under ubiquitous promoters was previously shown to restore visual function, albeit at light intensities above illumination safety thresholds. Here, we report (to our knowledge, for the first time) activation of macaque retinas, up to 6 months post-injection, using channelrhodopsin-Ca²⁺-permeable channelrhodopsin (CatCh) at safe light intensities. High-level CatCh expression was achieved due to a new promoter based on the regulatory region of the gamma-synuclein gene (SNCG) allowing

SUBMITTER: Chaffiol A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5675708 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature