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2003 – Catalyst For a Cure scientists identify key targets for glaucoma research
In the first year of the Catalyst For a Cure consortium, the four principal researchers collaboratively identified important avenues for glaucoma, researched, hired and trained necessary laboratory personnel, mastered new techniques, and delivered important preliminary results.
Four key targets were established as research objectives to be tackled collaboratively:
- Study the body’s innate repair response to glaucoma in order to determine if stem cells found in the eye can be manipulated to improve the repair process and thus slow down the disease.
- Screen for molecular changes during glaucoma progression. Using this approach, complex changes in proteins that hinder the ability of eye cells to function can be revealed and targeted for therapy.
- Create a resource of tools and information that will allow researchers to move more quickly in discovering the cause and potential treatments for glaucoma. Specifically, CFC investigators will identify new genes that are uniquely found in retinal ganglion cells which progressively die in the glaucoma patient.
- Analyze the interaction between retinal ganglion cells and their surrounding support cells, called glia.