GENE THERAPY TO PROVIDE ROD FUNCTION IN CNGB1-/- DOGS WITH ESTABLISHED ROD LOSS.

Lauren E Kustasz won best oral presentation given by a veterinary student at our school's annual Phi Zeta Research day for her summer research project.  Check out her interesting work below, and congratulations to her on her Cases/Abstracts Award!

GENE THERAPY TO PROVIDE ROD FUNCTION IN CNGB1-/- DOGS WITH ESTABLISHED ROD LOSS.

Lauren E Kustasz-1, Laurence M Occelli-1,2, Paige A Winkler-1,2, Simon M Petersen-Jones-1,2

1) College of Veterinary Medicine, 2) Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Michigan State University.

Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) is a genetically heterogeneous hereditary disease that causes photoreceptor degeneration in dogs and is equivalent to Retinitis Pigmentosa in humans. The phenotype and mechanism as well as potential therapies have been studied in a colony of dogs with autosomal recessive PRA due to a mutation in Cngb1. In this disease, prior to rod death, there is a shortening of rod outer segments and deterioration of the photoreceptors as early as 8 weeks of age. We hypothesize that there is a stage during retinal degeneration after which gene therapy will no longer be able to rescue rod function or prevent rod cell death. The objectives of this study were to determine the success of gene supplementation in Cngb1-/- dogs and to assess the stage of retinal degeneration at which gene therapy can still restore useful visual function. Five Cngb1-/- dogs with different degrees of rod degeneration and loss (ages range from 3 to 10.5 months) were injected with the same AAV5 GRK1-cCNGB1 vector. The degree of restoration of rod function was assessed by electroretinography (ERG) and vision testing. The thickness and morphology of the photoreceptor layers was assessed using Spectral Domain-Optical Coherence Tomography in vivo. We found that dogs injected at 3, 5 and 6 months of age showed a larger improvement of rod-mediated ERG amplitudes and improved vision rescue in low light intensities compared to the dog treated at 10.5 months. This study shows that although successful in providing rod function, gene therapy is more effective in Cngb1-/- dogs with earlier stages of rod photoreceptor loss.

Sex, Drugs, & Rock 'n' Roll

A cartoon depiction of what a career as an equine theriogenologist is like... :)

-Rachael Kearns, NC State

Congrats on your Creative Corner + 3rd Best Overall Awards!

Amazing regal animal portraits

Snighdha Paul from Western is obviously imaginative and talented -- just check out these beautiful acrylic paintings he's mastered!  Congratulations on your Creative Corner + 2nd Best Overall Awards!

"Italian Lady""Italian Gentleman""Lady Ymir"

Trojan Horse

Sidney Chan - Royal 

Creative Corner Award Winner + 1st Place Overall

Harry and the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

Clarissa Root

Texas A&M Class of 2018

Creative Corner Award Winner & 2nd Place Overall

Mr. Dursley did not like animals, especially cats, because he was allergic to them and furthermore he detested their peculiar attitudes. The cat outside of his house in Little Elm, Texas was more peculiar than most and therefore Mr. Dursley was more irritated than usual. It was a good thing that he did not notice the cat’s owner for he would have disliked her even more. Dr. McGonagall, the veterinary physiology instructor, sat on a bench observing the man. When he swatted at her cat and muttered something about running it over with a car, her eyes narrowed. Of all places, the dean wanted Harry left here? She doubted that Mr. Dursley liked babies any more than he liked cats.

Mr. Dursley soon forgot about the cat, settling into his morning routine of making angry phone calls and threatening to fire people. He halted his work to take lunch at half past noon. At the taco shop across the street, he pulled out his phone and browsed through the news headlines of the local paper. Mr. Dursley hated to look ignorant. To his surprise, he recognized the names of a couple murdered in Houston. Weren’t Lily and James the names of his wife’s estranged sister and her freak husband?

Mr. Dursley skimmed the first paragraph of the article. Lily and James were both veterinarians, a deplorable profession in Mr. Dursley’s mind. People spent far too much money maintaining their little foo-foo dogs, and if a cow was sick, that’s what slaughter was for. Besides, he didn’t even approve of human vaccines. As he continued reading, he discovered that their one-year-old son had survived the attack, but the paper did not list any relatives. Undoubtedly, he would become a ward of the state, a drain on everyone’s tax dollars, thought Mr. Dursley. Mr. Dursley was wrong.

Around 11:00 that night, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were rudely awakened by a loud knock at the door. They were shocked to see a police officer and an old man with a long, white beard holding a baby outside of their door. “Is this your nephew, Harry?” asked the police officer. “I have a nephew with that name,” replied Mrs. Dursley looking bewildered. “What on earth has happened?” The police officer explained as kindly as possible about the murder. “This veterinarian informed us that you were Lily’s sister. He taught Lily and James as vet students.” “And I miss them dearly,” interrupted the veterinarian. “Can’t…can’t you keep the baby?” asked Mr. Dursley. “We already have one young child to care for.”

“I think the child will be better off with a relative,” replied the veterinarian. “After all, I’m sure that Lily and James would have adopted your son.” The Dursleys stared at each other in horror at the thought of their beloved son, living with those sorts of people. “A baby is expensive,” Mr. Dursley protested. “There is some money set aside for his care,” the police officer assured them. After some more feeble protests, the Dursleys reluctantly agreed to take in their nephew.

As the old man with the long beard left the doorstep, Dr. McGonagall stepped out of the shadows. “Really? You’re leaving Harry with those people. I wouldn’t trust them with a cat. Will they even tell him about his parents?” The old man sighed, “It is best if he does not know of our world. With student debt constantly rising, he will be better off never considering veterinary medicine. Hopefully, this is the last anyone in our profession will hear of his name.” The old man was wrong. One day every veterinarian would know Harry’s name.