Vladlen Slepak, Ph.D.

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami

Project: The role of light-dependent movement of transducin in retinal rods.
Summary: Bright light damages photoreceptor cells because the eye focuses reflected sunlight on the retina.  It is also known that light can exacerbate retinal degeneration. The exact molecular mechanisms that protect photoreceptor cells and the reasons these protective mechanisms malfunction in disease are not completely understood.  Several years ago scientists discovered that a crucial protein responsible for light reception, transducin, which in darkness localizes to the rod outer segments, and then re-localizes across the cell in bright light.  Dr. Slepak’s research will uncover new information about photoreceptor cell biology that will allow us to understand how rod cells protect themselves from damaging levels of light. Specifically, this project will test the current hypothesis that the translocation of transducin to the inner compartments of rod cells has a cytoprotective function.  Potentially, this research will identify novel proteins that influence cell survival, which can be targeted pharmacologically or through gene therapy.