US researchers have used ground squirrels and rats to identify a protein that can reverse cataracts in the eye, which may lead to improved ways to manage the condition without surgery.
The study at the National Eye Institute (NEI), in Bethesda, Maryland, aimed to understand how to better manage cataracts, a condition where the eye lens becomes cloudy, often leading to vision loss and blindness if left untreated.
The team looked to a hibernating species, the thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus), which can develop cataracts at low temperatures during hibernation (pictured). However, cataracts in the animals are reversed when temperatures rise again and they come out of hibernation – this reversal does not occur in non-hibernating species like humans, or rats.
Using ground squirrel stem cells, which can develop into any type of cell, the researchers developed a ‘lens-in-a-dish’ in the lab and saw that the activity of a protein, RNF114, was significantly higher during periods of rewarming.
When the eye lenses of rats with cataracts where treated with RNF114 and temperatures were raised, the team saw a clearing of the cataracts – suggesting that RNF114 may be a possible route to clearing cataracts without the need for surgery, which can be risky.
Wei Li, at NEI, said: “Understanding the molecular drivers of this reversible cataract phenomenon might point us in a direction toward a potential treatment strategy.”
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