Abstract Title: The Role of the Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) as a Signal Relay in the Control of Eye Growth

Author Block: C.Wildsoet. School of Optometry, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.

Myopia is increasing in prevalence world-wide, nearing epidemic proportions in some populations. A pre-requisite to the development of effective therapeutic strategies is an understanding of how ocular growth and refractive errors are regulated. Eye growth is known to be sensitive to visual experience, with the primary targets of growth regulation being the choroidal and scleral layers of the eye that demarcate the boundary of the posterior vitreous chamber. Additional evidence for local ocular control of eye growth implies that the neural retina itself must be the source of growthregulating signals. Thus the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), interposed between the retina and the choroid, is likely to play a critical role in relaying retinal growth signals to the choroid and sclera. This presentation will be confined to the RPE of the chick, which is the most widely used animal model for myopia studies. A model for RPE-mediated growth regulation will be developed, incorporating ion transporters and signal receptors found in the chick RPE and signal molecules with possible roles in visually-driven changes in eye growth.

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