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Retinal “Rewiring” May Help Preserve Vision in Blindness-Causing Disease
Scientists at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)’s Jules Stein Eye Institute have uncovered a remarkable ability of the retina to adapt when vision begins to fail, offering fresh hope in the fight against inherited blindness. Their new study, published in Current Biology, reveals that certain retinal neurons can rewire themselves to preserve visual function in the face of photoreceptor degeneration caused by retinitis pigmentosa.
Retinitis pigmentosa is a progressive genetic disorder that affects millions globally and is a major cause of inherited blindness. It gradually destroys the retina’s rod cells, responsible for night vision, often leaving patients legally blind by middle age. But the UCLA team has discovered that as rod cells die off, other retinal cells step in to adapt.
Using genetically engineered mice that mimic early stages of retinitis pigmentosa, the researchers observed that rod bipolar cells began receiving and responding to cone signals after losing their usual rod inputs. The electrical activity recorded from these cells confirmed the strength and functionality of the new cone-driven connections.
"Our findings show that the retina adapts to the loss of rods in ways that attempt to preserve daytime light sensitivity in the retina," said senior author A.P. Sampath, PhD of the UCLA Stein Eye Institute. "When the usual connections between rod bipolar cells and rods are lost, these cells can rewire themselves to receive signals from cones instead. The signal for this plasticity appears to be degeneration itself, perhaps through the role of glial support cells or factors released by dying cells."
Importantly, the rewiring only occurred when rod cells actually degenerated, not just when they lost their light-sensing ability. This suggests that cell death itself triggers the adaptive process, potentially through signals released by dying rods or via glial cells that support retinal structure.
The study builds on the team’s previous 2023 research, which showed that cone cells can remain functional even after their physical structure has been severely compromised. Taken together, the findings suggest the retina has multiple layers of resilience, mechanisms that allow it to continue processing light even as photoreceptor cells are lost.
