Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I have done research on cures for blindness, and decided that for my science fair project I want to see how retinal cells from blind eyes react to different photoswitch chemicals. My idea for this project came from some articles that I read and my grandmother is blind. However, I need to get retinal cells from a blind person and a person with regular 20/20 vision. I also need to get these photoswitch chemicals, which are AAQ and DENAQ. I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get these materials for my science fair project.
Thank you.

Hi,

You are proposing a very ambitious and potentially useful project. Research on chemical photoswitches such as AAQ and DENAQ is very recent and promising in restoring sight to blind persons by sensitizing retinal cells to light. I’m not real familiar with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) but I know there is no cure and once the rods and cones are gone then you are blind. Here’s a paper I read to learn more about what ‘chemical switches’ are: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408583/

So, what you are proposing is to compare the responses of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) from people with RP to normal people, correct? These cells are especially interesting because they may also be affected in glaucoma. However, obtaining, culturing and experimenting with RGCs is quite difficult: http://bmctoday.net/glaucomatoday/2014/ ... lion-cells
The American Type Culture Collection, ATCC.org, is the usual source for human cells but when I checked they did not have RGCs.

Have you tried to locate a mentor in a lab that works with retinal cells? I think this would be the only realistic way you could perform experiments with cultured human cells. Cell culture requires specialized equipment and training, and the cells themselves are often very costly to obtain. AAQ and DENAQ are probably also expensive and only available for sale to schools and universities. If there is a medical school near where you live, I would see if they have an ophthalmology department and call them. Maybe someone there is doing research on RGCs and would allow you to work with them on a special project.

If you are unable to find a mentor, I believe that you could do some meaningful research by using the online nucleotide and protein databases to search and compare specific sequences from normal humans compared to those with RP or glaucoma. The photoswitch chemicals have to interact with some part of the RGC to trigger a signal and you might be able to discover the mechanism by studying the in silico interaction of AAQ or DENAQ with specific proteins. There’s a pretty steep learning curve for mastering the techniques but once you have it you can do a lot with just a computer and the internet.

Let us know what you want to do and we will try to help you create a good project.

Good luck!

Sybee