November 2016
Spotlight Summary by Robert Zawadzki
Photoreceptor disc shedding in the living human eye
The discovery by Kocaoglu et al. of the optical signature associated with photoreceptor disc shedding in the living human eye is a remarkable technical achievement, since it clearly marks the transition of AO-OCT technology from assessing retinal cellular morphology to finally fulfilling its long-anticipated potential of allowing investigation of cellular function in vivo. What made their observation possible was the application of a state-of-the-art AO-OCT system combined with a sophisticated data acquisition and post-processing method that allows tracking and monitoring individual cone cells in 4D.
The process of vision begins in the photoreceptor outer segments with light captured by opsins located in continually synthesized disc membranes. Photoreceptor disc shedding is a physiological process performed by Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) cells that is fundamental to maintaining photoreceptor health: it allows preserving the outer segment length by daily shedding and disposing into RPE about one tenth of its length, thus supporting complete renewal of the whole outer segment about once every ten days. Since photoreceptor disc renewal and shedding dysfunction is believed to be associated with numerous retinal diseases, the implication of the discovery made by Kocaoglu et al. goes beyond in-vivo observation of basic retinal function, but should eventually find its way into clinical diagnostic where its impact on early detection of eye diseases could be truly remarkable.
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The process of vision begins in the photoreceptor outer segments with light captured by opsins located in continually synthesized disc membranes. Photoreceptor disc shedding is a physiological process performed by Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) cells that is fundamental to maintaining photoreceptor health: it allows preserving the outer segment length by daily shedding and disposing into RPE about one tenth of its length, thus supporting complete renewal of the whole outer segment about once every ten days. Since photoreceptor disc renewal and shedding dysfunction is believed to be associated with numerous retinal diseases, the implication of the discovery made by Kocaoglu et al. goes beyond in-vivo observation of basic retinal function, but should eventually find its way into clinical diagnostic where its impact on early detection of eye diseases could be truly remarkable.
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Article Information
Photoreceptor disc shedding in the living human eye
Omer P. Kocaoglu, Zhuolin Liu, Furu Zhang, Kazuhiro Kurokawa, Ravi S. Jonnal, and Donald T. Miller
Biomed. Opt. Express 7(11) 4554-4568 (2016) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF