Open AccessCone photoreceptor dysfunction in retinitis pigmentosa revealed by optoretinography
Author(s) -
Ayoub Lassoued,
Furu Zhang,
Kazuhiro Kurokawa,
Yan Liu,
Marcel T. Bernucci,
James A. Crowell,
Donald T. Miller
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2107444118
Subject(s) - retinitis pigmentosa , cone (formal languages) , electroretinography , retina , retinal , optical coherence tomography , biology , achromatopsia , optics , ophthalmology , physics , biophysics , medicine , mathematics , algorithm
Significance Many blinding diseases afflict photoreceptors, specialized cells in the retina that capture and transduce light to initiate vision. Biomarkers that are sensitive to photoreceptor health are crucial for early detection and effective treatment monitoring of these diseases yet remain elusive. Here, we develop an optical biomarker, based on optoretinographic photoreceptor responses to light stimulation, that reflects the degree of dysfunction of individual cone photoreceptors in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), the most common inherited retinal degenerative disease. Our results show that this biomarker may be beneficial for assessing the functionality of remaining retinal cells in RP patients and for assessing efficacy of treatments such as gene therapy and stem cell transplantation for RP and other diseases afflicting photoreceptors.