Developmental and Regenerative Biology of the Vertebrate Eye - KDRT Lab

Anela Hoops - Zoology Major

Jose Raul Perez-Estrada - Faculty Mentor

Katia Del Rio-Tsonis - Lead PI

In 2026, around the world, around about 2.2 billion people have vision impairment caused by eye diseases. Leading causes of retina conditions include aging, diabetes, high blood pressure, and eye injuries. The most common retina eye disease is Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The retina is a layer of cells at the back of your eyeball that converts light into nerve signals. It then sends those signals along your optic nerve to your brain where the images are formed. While humans cannot regenerate their retina, animals such as chicken embryos retain the ability to regenerate their retina following removal (retinectomy) and addition of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2). In chickens, retina regeneration only occurs at early stages of development (Day 4). In this project, I became familiar with the model of chick retina regeneration as well as culturing chicken embryos at  early stages to study early eye development in vitro.

Studying early eye development will improve the understanding of the biology behind retina regeneration.

• Incubation of embryos in ovo and in vitro.

• Visual characterization of in vitro cultured embryos.

• Retinectomy and FGF2 treatment.

• Histology (H&E staining to see eye structures).

• Quantification of amount of retina regeneration.

Conclusion

• Eye vesicle is observed at 11 somite stage.

• In vitro, the eye development was followed from 11 to 28 somites.

• Retina regeneration by RPE reprogramming only occurs in the presence of  FGF2.

• RPE reprogramming occurs as early as 24h.

• The amount of retina regeneration induced by FGF2 increase over the time. 

Future Directions

Use these approaches to study the relationship between eye development and regeneration.

Snowden, J. S., Gibbons, Z. C., Blackshaw, A., Doubleday, E., Thompson, J., Craufurd, D., Foster, J., Happé, F., & Neary, D. (2003). Social cognition in frontotemporal dementia and Huntington's disease. Neuropsychologia, 41(6), 688–701. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0028-3932(02)00221-x

Through my research experience, I developed several key NACE career readiness competencies, especially...

• Critical thinking

• Communication

• Professionalism

• Technology

Conducting research required me to analyze data and evaluate credible sources which strengthened my critical thinking skills. I also improved my communication by summarizing complex ideas clearly in writing and discussing findings with others, even some who have no previous knowledge over the topic. Maintaining deadlines while staying organized and producing accurate work helped build my professionalism. Additionally, using research tools and software enhanced my technological skills, allowing me to work more efficiently and adapt to new platforms. Together, these experiences have better prepared me for future academic and professional environments.