Dear Hoover:
Please forward to the CVNet List the following note about a SIG at ARVO.
Thanks!
M. Eckmiller
Dear colleagues:
Because you may be interested in attending the following special interest
group (SIG) on Tuesday afternoon at ARVO, I call your attention to it.
Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Dr. Marion (Mara) Eckmiller
(enclosure)
***** Special Interest Group (#14) at ARVO 1999 *****
SOS Cones -- Strategies on Saving Cones (in Human Retinal Degenerations)
Tuesday, May 11, 2:00-4:00 pm in Ballroom D
Some human retinal degenerations that lead to loss of cone vision (eg.
RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA and MACULAR DEGENERATION) are caused by defects in
genes encoding proteins that occur in the pigment epithelium or in rods,
but not in cones. Because cones are more important than rods for human
vision, it is important to identify the basic mechanisms and intercellular
interactions involved in these degenerations, so that future research might
focus on developing THERAPIES FOR PRESERVING CONES regardless of what
happens to rods. This SIG will provide a platform for reviewing these issues,
describing experimental methods and animal models being used to investigate
these questions, and presenting recent findings that may clarify the
mechanisms involved (trophic factors? toxic factors?) in the presumed
interactions between cones, rods, glial cells, and/or the pigment epithelium
in human retinal degenerations.
Moderators: Alan C. Bird, MD, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London
Marion S. Eckmiller, PhD, University of Duesseldorf, Germany
Schedule:
2:00 - 2:20 Differences in the outer segment cytoskeleton may explain the
greater susceptibility to degeneration of rods versus cones,
Marion S. Eckmiller, PhD, University of Duesseldorf, Germany
2:20 - 2:40 The dependance of cones upon rod survival in the rd mouse,
Jose-Alain Sahel, MD, Universite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg,
France
2:40 - 3:00 Observations on ABCR-/- knockout mice: an animal model for
recessive Stargardt`s disease,
Gabriel H. Travis, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center, Dallas, TX
3:00 - 3:20 Cone survival in non-rodent animal models of retinal degeneration,
Gus D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD, Cornell University College of
Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, NY
3:20 - 3:40 Cone survival and degeneration in mutant rhodopsin transgenic pigs,
Fulton Wong, PhD, Duke University Eye Center, Durham, NC
3:40 - 3:55 Final Discussion
*** At 4:00 pm, in Ballroom A/B/C (adjacent to Ballroom D), ***
*** John C. Saari will be presented with the Friedenwald Award ***
.........................