Diabetic retinopathy (DR) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are the two leading causes of blindness in adults in the industrialized world. Both conditions involve vascular abnormalities, proliferation and leakage of new blood vessels. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a major cause of newborn blindness in premature infants maintained by oxygen supplementation during the postnatal period. This disease involves intense neovascularization of the retina and leads to retinal detachment. Another cause of blindness is corneal neovascularization, which often results from injury and infection in the cornea. Current mammalian models for ocular neovascularization require lengthy, tedious surgical manipulation and do not always result in improved vision;an alternative rapid, less invasive animal model for studying the process of ocular neovascularization and assessing drug effects will facilitate identification of new therapeutics. Using zebra fish, Phase I research developed a micro plate assay for quantifying effects of angiogenic compounds on ocular neovascularization. Phase II research will perform a pilot screen of available commercially compounds and confirm positive """"""""hits"""""""" identified in conventional animal models. Phase II research will further validate the utility of the zebra fish model for screening drugs for treating debilitating diseases involving neovascularization. By providing a quantitative in vivo assay for assessing drug effects on ocular neovascularization, the proposed zebra fish assay will facilitate development of therapeutic drugs for treating debilitating diseases involving neovascularization.
