A new multidisciplinary collaboration between the departments of biology and biomedical engineering, the Institute of Optics, and the Goergen Institute for Data Science will develop and build a novel light-sheet microscope that employs freeform optical designs devised at Rochester, allowing for cutting-edge scientific research in biological imaging.

Michael Welte, professor and chair of the Department of Biology, is the lead principal investigator of the project, which was awarded a $1.2 million grant from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.

The microscope, which will be housed in a shared imaging facility in Goergen Hall and is expected to be online in 2022, enables three-dimensional imaging of complex cellular structures in living samples. Researchers and engineers will continually improve the microscope, and it will eventually become a resource for the entire campus research community.

While many other research microscopes illuminate objects pixel by pixel, light-sheet technology illuminates an entire plane at once. The result is faster imaging with less damage to samples, enabling researchers to study biological processes in ways previously out of reach. Read more here.

Progressive vision loss, and eventually blindness, are the hallmarks of juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (JNCL) or CLN3-Batten disease.  New research led by Ruchira Singh, an associate professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Center for Visual Science, shows how a mutation associated with the disease potentially leads to degeneration of light sensing photoreceptor cells in the retina, and subsequent vision loss. The study appears in the journal Communications Biology.

Batten disease is caused by a mutation in the CLN3 gene, which is found on chromosome 16.  Most children suffering from JNCL have a missing part in the gene which inhibits the production of certain proteins.  Rapidly progressive vision loss can start in children as young as 4, who eventually go on to develop learning and behavior problems, slow cognitive decline, seizures, and loss of motor control.  Most patients with the disease die between the ages of 15 and 30.

To study Batten disease in patient’s own cells, the research team reengineered skin cells from patients and unaffected family members to create human-induced pluripotent stem cells.  These cells, in turn, were used to create retinal cells which possessed the CLN3 mutation. Using this new human cell model of the disease, the new study shows for the first time that proper function of CLN3 is necessary for retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell structure. RPE is the cell layer in the retina that nourishes light sensing photoreceptor cells in the retina and is critical for their survival and function and thereby vision.

Understanding how RPE cell dysfunction contributes to photoreceptor cell loss in Batten disease will enable researchers to target specific cell types in the eye using potential future gene therapies, cell transplantation, and drug-based interventions.

Read more here.

The focus will be on NIH’s research grants, especially the common R01 funding mechanism.

Topics will include:

• key required application components
• specific content that should be included when completing the individual sections
• NIH’s research grant review process, scoring system, and review criteria

Here are important links for researchers:

• The University’s COVID-19 Resource Center for important updates and guidance on working, teaching, and learning remotely
• University of Rochester Medical Center website for restrictions, resources, and news
• The University’s COVID-19 “Restart and Recovery” web page

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