Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their collaborators have identified a protein, known as RNF114, that reverses cataracts, a clouding of the eye's lens that occurs commonly in people as they age. The study, which was conducted in the 13-lined ground squirrel and rats, may represent a possible surgery-free strategy for managing cataracts, a common cause of vision loss. The study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation .
Scientists have long searched for an alternative to cataract surgery, which is effective, but not without risk. Lack of access to cataract surgery is a barrier to care in some parts of the world, causing untreated cataracts to be a leading cause of blindness worldwide." Xingchao Shentu, M.
D., cataract surgeon and co-lead investigator from Zhejiang University, China This new discovery was part of ongoing research at NIH's National Eye Institute (NEI) involving a mammalian hibernator, the 13-lined ground squirrel. In these ground squirrels, the light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina are mostly cones, which makes the ground squirrel helpful for studying cone-related properties, such as color vision.
In addition, the squirrel's ability to withstand months of cold and metabolic stress during hibernation make it model for vision scientists to study a range of eye diseases. Researchers learned that during hibernation, the ground squirrel's lenses became cloudy at around 4 degrees Celsius but quickly turned transparent aft.