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Mouse Microsurgery

The mouse eye is an important genetic model for the translational study of human ophthalmic disease. Blinding diseases in humans, such as macular degeneration, photoreceptor degeneration, cataract, glaucoma, retinoblastoma, and diabetic retinopathy can be recapitulated in transgenic mice. Our team has extensive microsurgical experience with eyes, and we develop and share surgical methods for preclinical research that tests therapies we hope will eventually be used for humans. All studies are conducted in accordance with the ARVO Statement for Use of Animals in Ophthalmic and Vision Research.

Projects

This surgical technique illustrates evisceration of the vitreous, retina, and lens from the mouse eye, separation by centrifugation, and characterization with protein assays

This surgical technique illustrates the injection of gene therapy vectors and stem cells into the subretinal space of the mouse eye.

This surgical technique illustrates removal of the mouse eye for high-thoughput phenotyping.

News

Apr 29 2020 | Posted In: 20/20 Blog
Palo Alto, CA — Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can happen when someone is close to an explosion that sends out powerful shock waves through the air.
Feb 5 2020 | Posted In: 20/20 Blog
Palo Alto, CA — Glaucoma is a common eye disease due to degeneration of the optic nerve, and eye pressure is an important risk factor. There are limited therapies since it is difficult to model glaucoma in the lab.
Oct 27 2018 | Posted In: 20/20 Blog
Chicago, IL — At the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting, Stanford ophthalmologist, Vinit Mahajan M.D., Ph.D., presented a poster detailing results on the relationship between specific patient mutations and clinical outcomes in the first FDA approved gene therapy trial in humans.
Nov 23 2017 | Posted In: 20/20 Blog
Adeno-associated viral (AAV) gene therapy restores axial eye length in a mouse model for nanophthalmos.
Apr 22 2016 | Posted In: 20/20 Blog
A new pre-clinical mouse model to study blindness caused by diabetes.
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Publications

Proteomic interactions in the mouse vitreous-retina complex., Skeie, Jessica M., and Mahajan Vinit B. , PLoS One, 2013, Volume 8, Issue 11, p.e82140, (2013)
Subretinal injection of gene therapy vectors and stem cells in the perinatal mouse eye, Wert, Katherine J., Skeie Jessica M., Davis Richard J., Tsang Stephen H., and Mahajan Vinit B. , Journal of visualized experiments: JoVE, (2012)
Evisceration of mouse vitreous and retina for proteomic analyses., Skeie, Jessica M., Tsang Stephen H., and Mahajan Vinit B. , Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2011, Issue 50, (2011)