Ross Collery
Medical College of Wisconsin, WI·Neuroscience
The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a layer of support cells at the back of the eye. It keeps the light-sensing photoreceptors alive, so when RPE cells fail, vision can be lost.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Genetics
Biology
- Topics
retinal pigment epithelium
retinoid signaling
vitamin A
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2028
What they work on
- Identify the signaling pathways and genes whose activity depends on STRA6 in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), by inactivating STRA6 and its partner RBP4 with CRISPR/Cas9 in zebrafish and in cultured human RPE cells.
- Separate STRA6's retinoid (vitamin A) transport role from its JAK-STAT cytokine signaling role by making precise, pathway-specific amino acid changes in zebrafish STRA6.
- Inactivate genes whose activity changes when STRA6 is lost, to test how each contributes to RPE function and survival in the cone-rich zebrafish eye.
More about the research
A protein called STRA6 sits on the surface of RPE cells. Mutations in human STRA6 cause Matthew-Wood syndrome, which includes very small or missing eyes and underdeveloped lungs. STRA6 is best known for carrying retinoids, vitamin A-derived molecules needed for vision, into cells. But it also acts as a receptor for cytokines, signaling proteins that tell cells how to behave. That signaling role has only been studied outside the eye.
Why it matters
Retinal degenerations are becoming more common, and losing RPE cells leads to photoreceptor death and vision loss. By revealing new signaling roles of STRA6 in the RPE, this work could uncover new targets for keeping RPE cells alive. That could support future treatments to prevent or slow retinal disease, including approaches based on modulating gene expression or gene editing.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Tylor Lewis
University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL·Neuroscience·Early-career
Comprehensively characterize retinal degeneration in global ADAM9 knockout mice, focusing on the interface between photoreceptor outer segments and the retinal pigment epithelium.
Nancy Philp
Thomas Jefferson University, PA·Neuroscience
Test whether the retinal pigment epithelium keeps some glucose for its own biosynthetic and phagocytic activities, using RPE-iΔGlut1 mice that lack the glucose transporter GLUT1 in the RPE.
Aparna Lakkaraju
University of California-San Francisco, CA·Biology
Test whether a clinically approved bisphosphonate drug, which blocks cholesterol production and ceramide generation, protects the retinal pigment epithelium and prevents retinal degeneration in mouse models of Stargardt and Batten disease.
The school
Medical College of Wisconsin: 17 labs on PI Pages, $360M a year on research, 44 research doctorates a year.
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