Ophthalmology Core Facility

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OVERALL CORE PROJECT SUMMARY This P30 Ophthalmology Core Facility provides ongoing support for NEI-funded Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and Casey Eye Institute vision researchers. The four resource cores are: Bioimaging & Confocal Microscopy; Gene Expression & Manipulation; Genetic Models of Ocular Disease & Biostatistics; and Proteomics. These shared resources will provide equipment and personnel otherwise not available to individual researchers working in a wide range of vision-threatening diseases, including cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, uveitis, pediatric eye disease, the physiology of vision and the genetics of glaucoma, macular degeneration, uveitis and inherited retinal diseases. The Bioimaging & Confocal Microscopy core will support confocal microscopy studies using state-of-the-art instrumentation for identification and high- resolution localization of proteins. In addition, this core will continue to support small animal imaging through maintenance of a Micron IV Retinal Imaging Microscope for in vivo imaging of rodent eyes. The Gene Expression & Manipulation core will provide instrumentation and technical support for a range of molecular methods to identify changes in levels of gene expression and proteins, and for methods by which these responses can be manipulated, such as RNAi silencing, gene overexpression or gene editing by CRISPR/Cas9. The Genetic Models of Ocular Disease & Biostatistics core (formerly Molecular Genetics & Biostatistics) will continue to provide DNA isolation services from patient blood samples, saliva and tissue and provide access for NEI investigators to advanced statistical techniques to ensure use of appropriate methods both in study design and for data analysis. Biostatistical services include analysis of complex gene expression arrays and RNA-seq datasets, large proteomics studies, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography studies and large patient population data sets from bioinformatics and clinical research studies. Two new services will provide (1) genotyping of cell, tissue and biological samples from human, non-human primate, rat, mouse and pig tissues and (2) provide assistance in establishing primary cell cultures from ocular tissues, as well as fibroblasts from patients with ocular disease. Offering these new services will enable functional genotype-phenotype studies for ocular disease, a critical enhancement in the current age of precision medicine. The Proteomics core will provide access to advanced, high-throughput techniques for measuring changes in protein abundance and modification with disease, determining how proteins fold and interact with one another, and how they regulate development. All four cores are highly complementary and, in combination with new programs designed to encourage communication between clinicians and basic scientists, will increase discoveries with greater direct benefit to patients.