Dr Luis Alarcon-Martinez was part of the research team which discovered microscopic structures in the retina which could hold the key to preventing vision loss from glaucoma.
Now a Transformative Research Grant from Fighting Blindness Canada will see him lead an international collaboration from CERA to further advance that research in search of new treatment for the world’s leading cause of irreversible blindness.
Dr Alarcon-Martinez, the Head of Visual Neurovascular Research, CERA’s Head of Glaucoma Research Professor Keith Martin, Professor Adriana Di Polo from the University of Montreal and Professor Bang Bui from the University of Melbourne’s Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences are co-investigators on the new study.
“We are extremely grateful to Fighting Blindness Canada for supporting our research,” says Dr Alarcon-Martinez.
“We hope our new study will enable us to gain a deeper understanding of the processes which control blood flow to cells in the retina to prevent damage and protect sight.
“A better understanding of how the retina and optic nerve works also increases our knowledge of the cardiovascular system and brain.
“In addition to glaucoma, findings of our research could also be applied to other conditions that damage the retina, optic nerve and brain including diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy caused by prematurity, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and motor neurone disease.”
How our vision works
Our vision relies on the successful function of millions of cells and nerve fibres that make up the retina and optic nerve which connects the eye to the brain.
Light is picked up in the retina – a layer of light sensing cells at the back of the eye – and then turned into electrical signals by retinal ganglion cells which transmit visual information to the brain via long nerve fibres which bundle together to make up the optic nerve.
To work properly, retinal ganglion cells need a good supply of oxygen and nutrients from nearby blood vessels.
When that supply is disrupted, cell damage and vision loss occurs.
Nanotube discovery
Before moving to CERA in 2021, Dr Alarcon-Martinez was part of a team which discovered a previously unknown mechanism which enables retinal cells to communicate with each other to regulate blood supply.
Embedded within the capillaries are pericytes, cells control the amount of blood passing through the capillaries by dilating or contracting them.
Looking at vascular changes in the retinas of mice, Dr Alarcon-Martinez and colleagues showed that pericytes project very thin tubes – known as nanotubes – to communicate with one another and supply blood where it is most needed.
Their study, published in Nature
