Pandala N, De Melo Haefeli L, Lang M, Stone EM, Mullins RF, Tucker BA, Han IC (2025) Development of a targeted choroidal injury model for the study of retinal degenerations and therapeutic cell replacement. bioRxiv 2025.07.29.667466. doi: 10.1101/2025.07.29.667466
Summary: The choroid is a vascular structure that provides nutrients to the photoreceptors by diffusion as well as removal of waste from the outer retina, essentially enabling proper retinal function. Loss of the choroid is a crucial pathophysiologic step in a wide range of retinal diseases. However a current limitation in developing choroidal cell replacement is the lack of a reliable injury model to allow study of transplantation strategies. Existing models rely on either ablative injury to the choroid with laser photocoagulation, but can damage unintended structures, or systemic sodium iodate administration, which causes diffuse, progressive choroidal injury. Authors were able to show suprachoroidal injection of anti-CD38 and anti-CD105 saporin conjugates resulted in targeted, localized, and non-progressive choroidal injury in rats. Immunotoxin-based models of targeted choroidal injury may be useful for understanding pathways of retinal degeneration and facilitating development of therapies for diseases involving choroidal cell loss.
Related Products: Anti-CD38-SAP Kit (Cat. #IT-96), Anti-CD105-SAP (Cat. #IT-80)