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Customized Rodent Models of Cataract

Cataract is the number one cause of blindness in the world for which there is no effective medical treatment. To help researchers around the world accelerate research into cataract disease and the development of potential new treatments. Ace Therapeutics offers a variety of validated cataract mouse models, including the galactose cataract mouse model, UV radiation-induced mouse cataract model, and genetic mouse cataract model. Here, our scientists will screen the most suitable model based on your compound needs. This will quickly advance your project to the next stage.

Rodent Models of VEGF-Induced Retinal Leakage

What Are Cataracts?

Cataract, an eye disease characterized by lens clouding, is the leading cause of blindness worldwide, accounting for about half of all forms of vision loss. At present, there is no clinical prevention policy, and cataract lens extraction is the only method. However, with the aging population and increasing prevalence of diabetes, the demand for cataract surgery and the need for cost-effective solutions is growing. Therefore, alternative drug therapies are needed to delay cataract onset. Unfortunately, the exact cause of cataracts is unknown. However, studies have shown that cataracts may be related to certain factors, such as age, secondary, congenital, and traumatic. Appropriate animal models of cataracts help understand the disease pathogenesis and identify new treatment options.

Fig. 1. Construction of transgenic mice expressing APH specifically in the lens. (Santhoshkumar P, et al., 2014)

Service Overview

The clinical treatment of cataracts is mainly based on surgery. In order to reduce the need for cataract surgery, it is possible to develop alternative drug therapies to delay the onset of cataracts. As the world's leading provider of eye disease solutions, Ace Therapeutics is working through multiple efforts to provide global researchers with excellent cataract rodent models for understanding the pathogenesis of this disease and exploring potential new treatments or new test compounds' efficacy in humans.

Importantly, Ace Therapeutics not only provides professional cataract models, but our talented researchers have also developed customized protocols to help global customers evaluate the efficacy of candidate compounds. They evaluate by the following means, including but not limited to:

Slit lamp examination (degree of lens opacity)
Fundoscopy
Histopathological analysis

Explore Ace Therapeutics' Rodent Models of Cataract

Ace Therapeutics provides the following cataract mouse models for global customers, including but not limited to:

Galactose-induced mouse cataract model

Modeling method: In the Ace Therapeutics laboratory, our researchers give mice a 50% galactose diet, free food, and water, observed the cataract, and changed to a normal diet after the cataract matured. The characteristics of this model are that all the mice reached the stage of mature cataract on the 19th day. The milky white reflection in the pupil area could be observed with the naked eye, and the density in the central area was the highest. About 30 days after the galactose feed was stopped, the reversal began, and a circular translucent area appeared at the equator with the naked eye; after 45 days, the cortex area basically became transparent, and the slit lamp examination showed that there was still filamentous turbidity in the transparent area; On day 60 for examination, only a nuclear opacity the size of a pinhead remained.

Since the pathological process of galactose cataract formation is basically the same as that of diabetes and senile cataract, this model can be used by our customers for diabetes and senile cataract research. It is a relatively mature cataract animal model that is easy to operate and has a high success rate.

Ultraviolet radiation-induced mouse cataract model

Modeling method: Ace Therapeutics researchers expose one eye of C57BL/6 mice to UVR-B in the 300 nm wavelength region (UVR-B-300 nm) in vivo, and one eye served as a control. Prior to UV exposure, mice were examined with a slit lamp to rule out pre-existing cataracts. One eye of each mouse was exposed to UV light for 100 seconds twice a week for three weeks. Forty-eight hours after UV exposure, mouse lens opacities were observed by a slit-lamp examination. This model is available for our customers to study experimental cataracts quantified by the forward scattering of lens light.

Genetic mouse cataract model

Ace Therapeutics researchers can also develop customized genetic mouse cataract models using gene knock-in/knock-out according to your project needs. Such as cataract mice with mutations in the gene encoding β-crystallin (Cryb), cataract mice with mutations in genes encoding membrane proteins such as MIP or connexin, and cataract mice with mutations in genes encoding transcription factors such as FoxE3, Maf, Sox1, and Six5.

With rich experience in the field of cataracts, Ace Therapeutics is confident to help you overcome any upcoming difficulties and challenges. If you are interested in our services or need more detailed information, please feel free to contact us. Our experienced scientists are ready to help you!

References

Santhoshkumar P, Xie L, Raju M, et al. Lens crystallin modifications and cataract in transgenic mice overexpressing acylpeptide hydrolase. J Biol Chem. 2014, 289(13):9039-52.
Graw J. Mouse models of cataract. J Genet. 2009, 88(4):469-86.

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