Last updated 18/03/2022 by The pain clinics - Interdisciplinary Health

Scientists have restored sight in blind mice for the very first time!

A fantastic breakthrough in research related to the treatment of glaucoma, better known as glaucoma, and other visual disorders affecting the optic optic nerve.

The study, published in the research journal Nature Neuroscience, describes how scientists have for the first time been able to restore important visual functions in mice that have been blinded due to lack of nerve contact between the eyes and the brain.

Regeneration of injured and missing nerves

The researchers 'tricked' the optic nerve fibers - the nerves that carry visual information from the eye to the brain - to repair themselves. They also found that the nerve fibers not only regenerated, but that they also followed the same nerve pathway in which they lay before they were damaged or cut off.

First treatment ever against blindness due to glaucoma

Prior to treatment, the mice were affected by a condition similar to glaucoma. A cause of blindness that occurs due to pressure in the eye which presses on the optic optic nerve and prevents it from functioning.

Professor Huberman, the lead researcher behind the study, further explains that to date, vision has only been restored to those patients who have been affected by cataracts, better known as cataracts - which is the leading cause of blindness. But that so far, there has been no vision-setting treatment for people who have lost their eyesight due to glaucoma.

Glaucoma is a serious visual diagnosis affecting as many as 70 million worldwide. Optical nerve damage can occur due to a variety of causes, including trauma, retinal detachment, pituitary gland tumor, or brain cancer.

High-contrast exposure and biochemical manipulation

When you look at something, it is actually light that reflects from the thing and the surroundings you are looking at and into your eye. Here, the light is focused in the lens of the eye before proceeding and is interpreted by photoreceptors located in the retina - a thin layer of cells located at the back of the eye.

These photoreceptors then transmit the signal or information through other cells and nerve pathways through the optic nerve - and then through thin nerve fibers called axons that spread out and go to different parts of the brain. Here they connect to other nerves and form the image that we "see".

There are over 30 different retinal nerve cells that interpret different parts of the visual information. Some work with colors, others work with movement and specific tasks.

Professor Huberman further explains how these retinal nerve cells work together and form a dynamic visual experience that can alert us to danger or the like. Eg. If a car comes at high speed towards you, then these nerve cells will help your brain interpret this as dangerous and then suggest that you should move.

These nerve cells send signals and information to over two dozen areas of the brain, which not only work with vision, but also affect our mood and where we are in the daily rhythm.

Over a third of the brain is dedicated to interpreting vision-related information and signals, but only the retinal nerve cell assemblies connect the brain to the eye. He also adds:
"If the axons of these cells are cut, it's like pulling the plug out of sight. No link. "

The researchers found that they could regenerate the cut optic nerve in mice by treating them daily with an intensive exposure to high-contrast images and / or biochemical manipulation - which aimed to reactivate a specific nerve pathway in the collection of retinal nerve ganglions.

This nerve pathway is called mTOR, and research has already proven that it plays a key role in brain development. When this nerve pathway is weakened or lost - which occurs at older ages - you will also lose a number of important growth-promoting molecular interactions.

After three weeks of treatment, the eyes and brain of the mice were checked to see if any axons had grown again. The researchers were overwhelmed by the results.

Both parts of the treatment are necessary

An important observation in the study was that although the axons belonging to the retinal ganglion cells are destroyed when the optic nerve is cut, the photoreceptor cells and their link to the cells were still intact.

The study further showed that mice that received only part of the treatment - either visual stimulation or biochemical manipulation of the mTOR nerve pathway - did not improve. It was the combination of the two that became decisive and triggered a regeneration process in a larger number of axons. These axons then began to grow and migrate to parts of the brain.

This also showed that the axons grew back into their original positions - and the researchers compared this to 'it was as if the cells had their own built-in GPS'.

Successful, but can be even better

The treatment was a great success, but on re-check, they found that certain parts of the vision were still missing. The part of the vision responsible for detail was still dysfunctional. The team was able to prove that two (out of over 30) axons from specific retinal ganglion cells had grown back to their targets - but lacked, at the time of the study, molecular markers that could tell them if the remaining axons had also reached. The researchers have already started a new study where they are working to improve the treatment.

Conclusion:

Fantastic study that is truly a pioneer in the treatment of blindness caused by glaucoma! We look forward to following developments further. This will, over time, develop into an effective vision treatment for humans as well. We only hope that politicians choose to use financial resources for research that can have very positive socio-economic consequences - imagine if all those with blindness can have the opportunity to work again fully? Share the article on social media so that we can increase our focus on such rewarding research!

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