Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research

To determine the primary causes of eye lens cataract and degeneration of the macula, and to apply this knowledge to extend the useful life of these organs. Current approaches involve defining adequate levels of nutrients during various life stages, which will result in delayed accumulation of damaged proteins in lens and retina, as well as delayed lens opacification and age-related maculopathy. The laboratory pursues this mission principally using clinical/epidemiological studies and laboratory tests in human cohorts, animal models, in cultured human and other mammalian lens or retina tissues, and lens and retina epithelial cells in culture. The major research questions seek to define and understand interrelationships between aging, regulation of lens protein metabolism, protease function and expression, and nutrition. A primary biochemical focus is identifying ubiquitin-dependent processes which are involved in the removal of photooxidized proteins.