Ectopic Melanopsin For Visual Restoration: Comparisons with Alternative Optogenetic Tools (Slides)

Background: Melanopsin is an optogenetic tool - it renders neural cells sensitive to light when exogenously expressed - and is emerging as a prime candidate for clinical optogenetic approaches to visual restoration. A model for this approach lies in the neuroretinal tissue surviving in the inherited retinal degenerations (IRD). However, a diversity of neural light responses naturally exists in the healthy retinae and it remains unclear which optogenetic tool is best suited to fully replicate natural neuroretinal responses. Purpose: To compare melanopsin with leading optogenetic tools exogenously targeted to ON-bipolar cells without the 'noise' of intrinsic responses by using retinae devoid of both canonical and pRGC photoreception.