A novel in vivo functional imaging platform to study the re-animation of light responses in a blind eye

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Abstract Synthetic azobenzene photoswitches can bypass the degenerated rod and cone photoreceptors of a blind retina and directly photosensitize retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) to restore light-response. This proposal outlines a novel in vivo imaging platform that utilizes 2-photon tracking scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (2P-tSLO) and GCaMP6 Ca2+ imaging to visualize RGCs of blind rd1 mice that have reanimated light sensitivity. The research planned in this fellowship entails 1) the development of an optimized photoswitch delivery system using Ca2+ imaging and multielectrode array electrophysiology and 2) the evaluation of photoswitch light-restoration using in vivo Ca2+ imaging.