Objective
Myopia (or near-sightedness) is a condition where the eye grows larger than normal. It is the fourth most common cause of blindness. There is currently no effective treatment to stop its development, and corrective lenses are used instead to compensate for the excessive eye length. Myopia is a common condition that affects more than one third of the European population, and is anticipated to increase in the future. This project aims to identify the mechanism for malignant eye growth. The retina is a tissue sheet in the eye responsible for photodetection, and Mueller cells are the only cells spanning the entire retinal thickness. During excessive eye growth a signal is transduced from the retina outwards to the hard shell of the eye, the sclera, but the nature of the signal is unknown. We propose that eye size is controlled by alteration of the retinal structure, allowing pressure to act on the underlying tissue as a signal. The contractile tone of Mueller cells can be pharmacologically altered in vitro, by substances implicated in myopia development. We believe that relaxation of Mueller cells either increase the retinal thickness thereby increasing the pressure, or increased retinal elasticity allow the intraocular pressure to act on the pigment epithelium as a signal for eye growth. To reveal the role of retinal and Mueller cell biomechanics in myopia, we will perform rheology measurements on retinae from guinea pig eyes with induced myopia. Comparisons with normal retinae will give a clear understanding if increased retinal elasticity is correlated with myopic development. We will investigate if the retina expands after exposure to drugs causing myopia, and by use of a custom-made device we will study if the retina transduce a mechanical force. To identify new pharmacological targets for intervention we will monitor retinal thickness or elasticity changes after interference with cytoskeletal components, such as microtubules, in Mueller cells.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine ophthalmology
- natural sciences biological sciences biophysics
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2009-RG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
04109 Leipzig
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.