“Our grant detailed how this microscope will advance the work of more than 30 investigators in ophthalmology and diabetes, with 15 primary investigators occupying the majority of its operational time,” says Stephen Lentz, Ph.D., Imaging Laboratory Director of the MDRC Morphology and Image Analysis Core. David Antonetti, Ph.D., the principal investigator on the S10 grant, partnered with Dr. Lentz to catalog the specific needs
Stephen Lentz, Ph.D.
of a wide range of researchers, and to detail the institutional
State-of-the-Science Microscope Gives Kellogg Researchers New Edge National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded investigators in the
support that U-M will provide. “The integrated software of the Stellaris 8 offers significant improvements over imaging systems previously available,” says Dr. Antonetti. “For Kellogg investigators, it opens new windows into diseases like diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration and glaucoma.” For example, multiple images can
Kellogg Eye Center Vision Research Core and the Michigan
be rapidly acquired and “tiled” to-
Diabetes Research Center (MDRC) now have access to the latest
gether into a composite image, making
advancements in confocal microscopy, thanks to an acquisition
it possible to capture changes over an
made possible by a NIH Shared Instrument (S10) grant.
entire tissue segment or organ structure.
The Leica Stellaris 8 was installed in the imaging facility
“By imaging the whole retina, we
in the Brehm tower shared by Kellogg and the MDRC in June
can analyze global vascular changes
2021. It is one of only a handful of microscopes of its caliber
across a large swath of retinal cells,”
found anywhere in the region.
Dr. Antonetti explains (see photo,
The S10 grant is designed to enhance the work of NIHfunded scientists by helping to fund instruments that are too
right). This new tool makes it possible to
costly for an individual investigator. An institution must dem-
think about our work in new ways, and
onstrate that the equipment will meet the needs at least three
answer questions we couldn’t even ask before,” says Dr. Lentz.
NIH-funded principal investigators who will share it.
“It is already moving our research in new directions.”
Toward a Therapeutic Target for Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy The biggest challenge faced
His latest effort focuses on pyruvate kinase isozyme M2
by a surgeon repairing a
(PKM2), an enzyme expressed in various tissue and tumor
detached retina is proliferative
cells throughout the body, including the cells of the retina.
vitreoretinopathy (PVR), the for-
“In PVR, PKM2 appears to drive a reprogramming of the
mation of fibrotic membranes
metabolism of RPE cells that results in fibrotic retinal membranes,”
on the surface of the retina.
Dr. Wubben explains. “We hope a better understanding of how
PVR increases the risk of both
PKM2 drives this metabolic reprogramming will help us develop
failed RD repair surgery and
new therapeutics to prevent PVR and vision loss in patients af-
poor visual outcomes from the
flicted with this blinding surgical complication.”
procedure. Currently, there are
The project has earned a Career Development Award
no medications to prevent or
from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB). The award supports the
treat PVR.
independent research of promising junior faculty from the coun-
As a vitreoretinal surgeon and a researcher focused on
try’s top academic ophthalmology programs.
drug design and development, Thomas Wubben, M.D., Ph.D, is driven to pursue novel interventions for PVR.
RPB Award
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