Cornea-lens Regeneration

Our primary research emphasis is on lens regeneration of the eye.  Specifically, we study Cornea-Lens Regeneration in the African-clawed frog, Xenopus laevis.  In this rare form of lens regeneration, cells from the outer layer of the cornea (cornea epithelium) possess the ability to reform the lens after its complete removal. While most forms of vertebrate regeneration are dependent on residual stem cells of the tissue of interest, cornea-lens regeneration represents a less common form of de novo ("of new") regeneration .  In other words, all of the original lens cells can be removed and the lens will regenerate from a non-lens source.  

Our current efforts are focused on two major areas of work:

1. Wnt/beta-catenin signaling during cornea-lens regeneration.  Recent work has demonstrated that a suppression of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is necessary in order for cornea-lens regeneration to occur. We are currently working to expand this mechanism by identifying the regulators of Wnt signaling that are involved during the early events of lens regeneration. 

2. Regenerative competency of post-metamorphic cornea. We are also interested in understanding why the post-metamorphic cornea has limited regenerative ability when compared to that of larval cornea. While most of the work in the field has focused on the larval cornea epithelium, very few published studies have been conducted in post-metamorphic cornea. It has been recently shown that the post-metamorphic cornea (structurally very similar to our own) is still capable of responding to the regenerative cues from the neural retina.  These signals induce basal cells of the mature cornea epithelium to express lens proteins, but they are still unable to form lenses.