Eye on the Cure

Dr. José Sahel

If you or someone you’re close to has a retinal degenerative disease, you should know about the vision-saving promise of a protein called Rod-derived Cone Viability Factor (RdCVF). It was discovered by Foundation-funded clinician-researchers Drs. José Sahel and Thierry Léveillard, of Institut de la Vision in Paris. In fact, they won the Foundation’s Board of Director’s Award in 2005 for the finding. It was a monumental effort, namely because they screened thousands of proteins to come up with the gem.

In a poster at ARVO, researchers show how they’ve provided sustained delivery of RdCVF through gene therapy, which has performed well in preserving and restoring cones, the retinal cells that give us central and color vision and the ability to see details. Most excitingly, this therapy is poised to move into a clinical trial.

RdCVF works independently of the genetic defect causing the retinal disease, meaning that it has great potential to help people with a wide variety of retinal conditions. While this study was performed in an animal model for retinitis pigmentosa, it is the kind of study that helps lay the scientific foundation needed for using the treatment in humans.

The ARVO poster highlights a collaborative effort that includes Drs. Sahel and Léveillard, and Dr. John Flannery of the University of California, Berkeley.