Research
DEPARTMENT OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
Research Activities
Professor:
Pe’er, J., MD1
(Head of Department)
Associate Professors:
Frucht-Pery, J., MD
Solomon, A., MD
Banin, E., MD, PhD
Senior Lecturers:
Blumenthal, E.Z., MD
Chowers, I., MD
Sharon, D., PhD
Clinical Senior Lecturers:
Hemo, I., MD
Anteby, I., MD
Instructors:
Amer, R., MD
Yahalom, C., MD
Mechoulam, H., MD
Physicians participating in research:
Averbukh, E., MD
Deckel, Y., MD
Dotan, S., MD
Frenkel, S., MD, PhD
Greifner, G., MD
Halpert, M., MD
Hendler, K., MD
Ilsar, M., MD
Landau, D., MD
Miller, A., MD
1 Jonas Friedenwald Professor of Ophthalmic Research
INTRODUCTION
The members of the Department of Ophthalmology conduct both basic and clinical research. The research has been conducted mainly in the laboratories of the Department of Ophthalmology as well as in collaboration with other laboratories of the Faculty of Medicine, Hadassah University Hospital, departments in other hospitals in Israel, and with departments abroad.
With the establishment of the retinal and macular degeneration center, both basic and clinical research has been conducted in this field, on the molecular level, electrophysiology, and clinical studies such as experimental drugs. Cell proliferation in normal tissue and in ocular tumor tissue, with and without treatment, has been studied. In the field of ocular oncology, the goals of research are to find differences between primary uveal melanoma and its metastases, and developing new biomarkers for early detection of metastatic disease. In the field of cornea and ocular surface diseases, inflammatory and repair have been explored, as well as methods of drug delivery, the use of amniotic membranes and their preparation, and others. In glaucoma, investigation of visual fields methods and new instrumentation are the main fields of interest. Other areas of research carried out in the Department of Ophthalmology are in pediatric ophthalmology, neuro-ophthalmology, ocular inflammation, ocular microbiology, genetics of eye diseases, lasers in ophthalmology, and optic and refractive surgery.
The laboratories at our department are:
· The Visual Functions Laboratory, which provides diagnostic services (ERG, VEP, EOG, and psychophysical testing) as well as facilities for basic research.
· The Ophthalmic Pathology Laboratory, which provides, in addition to diagnostic services, also services for all the morphological studies that have been done in our department, including immunohistochemical studies.
· The Laboratory of Immuno-Ophthalmology provides research and diagnostic services in inflammatory eye disease.
· The Molecular Ophthalmology Laboratory has been established as a core for all studies involving molecular techniques, including molecular genetics, that are carried out by the researchers of our department.
· The Laboratory for Laser Research has been restructured and provides services in basic and applied research with femtosecond lasers.
Research areas
Macular & other retinal degenerations
(Banin, Chowers, Sharon, Hemo, Averbukh)
Angiogenesis and neovascularization
(Banin, Chowers, Hemo, Averbukh, Pe’er)
Other retinal diseases
(Hemo, Banin, Chowers, Averbukh)
Normal & pathological ocular cell proliferation
(Pe’er, Frenkel)
Ocular oncology and pathology
(Pe’er, Frenkel)
Visual functions & electrophysiology
(Banin, Chowers)
Cornea and Ocular surface
(Frucht-Pery, Solomon)
Molecular ophthalmology
(Sharon, Chowers, Solomon, Blumenfeld)
Molecular genetics of eye diseases
(Sharon, Chowers, Banin, Blumenthal, Blumenfeld)
Ocular immunology & inflammatory eye diseases
(Solomon, Amer)
Ocular pharmacology and drug delivery
(Frucht-Pery, Solomon, Blumenthal, Banin, Chowers,)
Albinism
(Blumenfeld, Banin)
Lasers in ophthalmology
(Hemo, Banin, Frucht-Pery, Solomon, Blumenthal, Lewis)
Glaucoma
(Blumenthal)
Pediatric ophthalmology and eye movements
(Anteby, Yahalom, Mechoulam)
Development of ophthalmic instrumentation
(Blumenthal)
Neuro-ophthalmology
(Dotan)
Ocular microbiology
(Frucht-Pery, Solomon)
Refractive surgery
(Frucht-Pery, Solomon, Landau)
Oculoplastics
(Ilsar, Deckel)
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Macular and other retinal degenerations
Chowers I. and Banin, E. (2003) Experimental therapeutic modalities for Retinitis Pigmentosa. Harefuah 142:277-280. (in Hebrew)
Banin E. and Chowers I. (2004) Experimental therapeutic modalities for retinitis pigmentosa. Harefuah 143:368-371. (in Hebrew).
Abramov Y., Borik S., Yahalom C., Fatum M., Avgil G., Brzezinski A., and Banin E. (2004) The effect of hormone therapy on the risk for age-related maculopathy in postmenopausal women. Menopause 11:62-68.
Otani A,. Dorrell M.I., Kinder K., Moreno S.K., Nusinowitz S., Banin E., and Heckenlively J., Friedlander M. (2004) Rescue of retinal degeneration by intravitreally injected adult bone marrow-derived lineage-negative hematopoietic stem cells. Journal of Clinical Investigations 114:765-774.
Banin E., Obolensky A., Idelson M., Hemo I., Reinhardtz E., Pikarsky E., Ben-Hur T., and Reubinoff B. (2006) Retinal incorporation and differentiation of neural precursors derived from human embryonic stem cells. Stem Cells 24:246-257. E-pub ahead of print: August 25, 2005.
Chowers I., Wong R., Dentchev T., Farkas R.H., Iacovelli J., Gunatilaka T.L., Medeiros N.E., Presley J.B., Campochiaro P.A., Curcio C.A., Dunaief J.L., and Zack D.J. (2006) The iron carrier transferrin is upregulated in retinas from patients with age-related macular degeneration. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 47:2135-40.
Averbukh E. and Banin E. (2006) Diabetic macular edema: towards therapy aimed at the underlying pathogenic mechanisms. Israel Medical Association Journal 8:127-128.
Ritter M.R., Banin E., Moreno S.K., Aguilar E., Dorrell M.I., and Friedlander M. (2006) Myeloid progenitors differentiate into microglia and promote vascular repair in a model of ischemic retinopathy. Journal of Clinical Investigations 116:3266-3276.
Banin E., Mizrahi-Meissonnier L., Neis R., Silverstein S., Magyar I., Abeliovich D., Roepman R., Berger W., Rosenberg T., and Sharon D. (2007) A non-ancestral RPGR missence mutation in families with either recessive semi-dominant X-linked Retinitis Pigmentosa. American Journal of Medical Genetics 143:1150-1158.
Cervantes-Castaneda R.A., Banin E., Hemo I., Shpigel M., Averbukh E., and Chowers I. (2007) Lack of benefit of early awareness to age-related macular degeneration. EYE (in press).
Angiogenesis and neovascularization
Ritter M.R., Aguilar E., Banin E., Scheppke L., Uusitalo-Jarvinen H., and Friedlander M. (2005) Three-dimensional in vivo imaging of the mouse intraocular vasculature during development and disease. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 46:3021-3026.
Banin E., Dorrell M.I., Aguilar E., Ritter M.R., Aderman C.M., Smith A.C., Friedlander J., and Friedlander M. (2006) T2-TrpRS inhibits preretinal neovascularization and enhances physiological vascular regrowth in OIR as assessed by a new methods of quantification. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 47:2125-2134.
Friedlander M., Dorrell M.I., Ritter M.R., Marchetti V., Moreno S.K., El-Kalay M., Bird A.C., Banin E., and Aguillar E. (2007) Progenitor cells and retinal angiogenesis. Angiogenesis 10:89-101.
Other retinal diseases
Banin E., Shalev R.S., Obolensky A., Neis R., Chowers I., and Gross-Tsur, V. (2003) Retinal function abnormalities in patients treated with vigabatrin. Archives of Ophthalmology 121:811-816.
Mechoulam H. and Pierce E.A. (2003) Retinopathy of prematurity: molecular pathology and therapeutic strategies. American Journal of Pharmacogenomics 3:261-277.
Gross M., Banin E., Eliashar R., and Ben-Hur T. (2004) Susac syndrome. Otology and Neurotology 25:470-473.
Sarrazin L., Averbukh E. Halpert M., Hemo I., and Rumelt S. (2004) Traumatic pediatric retinal detachment: A comparison between open and closed globe injuries. American Journal of Ophthalmology 137:1042-1049.
Sisak S., Banin E., and Blumenthal E.Z. (2004) A two-compartment model of the human retina. Medical Hypothesis 62:808-816.
Albini T.A., Wang R.C., Reiser B., Zamir E., Wu G.S., and Rao N.A. (2005) Microglial stability and repopulation in the retina. British Journal of Ophthalmology 89:901-903.
Averbukh E. (2005) The evidence supporting the early treatment for Type 1 Retinopathy of Prematurity needs further evaluation. Archives of Ophthalmology 123:406.
Lossos A., Khoury M., Rizzo W.B., Gomori J.M., Banin E., Zlotogorski A., Jaber S., Abramsky O., Argov Z., and Rosenmann H. (2006) Phenotypic variability among adult siblings with Sjogren-Larsson syndrome. Archives of Neurology 63:278-280.
Rumelt S., Sarrazin L., Averbukh E., Halpert M., and Hemo I. (2007) Paediatric vs adult retinal detachment. EYE (in press)
Ocular oncology and pathology
Cohen Y., Goldenberg-Cohen N., Parrella P., Chowers I., Merbs S.L., Pe'er J., and Sidransky D. (2003) Lack of BRAF mutation in primary uveal melanoma. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 44:2876-2878.
Amer R., Pe’er J., Chowers I., and Anteby I. (2004) Treatment options in the management of choroidal metastases. Ophthalmologica 218:372-377.
Kaiserman I., Amer R., and Pe’er J. (2004) Liver function tests in metastatic uveal melanoma. American Journal of Ophthalmology 137:236-243.
Kaiserman I., Anteby I., Chowers I., Blumenthal E.Z., Kliers I., and Pe'er J. (2004) Post-brachytherapy initial tumor regression rate correlates with metastatic spread in posterior uveal melanoma. British Journal of Ophthalmology 88:892-895.
Neudorfer M., Kessler A., Anteby I., Goldenberg D., and Barak A. (2004) Co-existence of intraocular and orbital lymphoma. Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavia 218:372-377.
Amer R., Pe'er J., Pappo O., and Dotan S. (2005) Necrobiotic xanthogranuloma associated with choroidal infiltration and syncytial giant cell hepatitis. Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology 25:189-192.
Goldenberg-Cohen N., Cohen Y., Rosenbaum E., Herscovici Z., Chowers I., Weinberger D., Pe'er J., and Sidransky D. (2005) T1799A BRAF mutations in conjunctival melanocytic lesions. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 46:3027-3030.
Kaiserman I., Amer R., Kaiserman N., and Pe'er J. (2005) Ultrasonographic tissue characteristics of mushroom-shaped uveal melanoma. Current Eye Research 30:171-177.
Kaiserman I., Rosner M., and Pe'er J. (2005) Forecasting the prognosis of choroidal melanoma with an artificial neural network. Ophthalmology 112:1608-1611.
Lin A.Y., Maniotis A.J., Valyi-Nagy K., Majumdar D., Setty S., Kadkol S., Leach L., Pe'er J., and Folberg R. (2005) Distinguishing fibrovascular septa from vasculogenic mimicry patterns. Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine 129:884-892.
Pe'er J. (2005) Ocular surface squamous neoplasia. Ophthalmology Clinics of North America 18:1-13.
Pe'er J. and Barzel I. (2005) Multilobular choroidal melanoma following Ruthenium 106 brachytherapy. Archives of Ophthalmology 124:868-869.
Pe'er J. and Frucht-Pery J. (2005) The treatment of primary acquired melanosis (PAM) with atypia by topical Mitomycin C. American Journal of Ophthalmology 139:229-234.
Rumelt S., Pe'er J., and Rubin P.A. (2005) The clinicopathological spectrum of benign peripunctal tumours. Graefes Archives of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology 243:113-119.
Ben Simon G.J., Abulafia A., and Pe'er J. (2006) Apoptosis inhibitor, survivin, in posterior uveal melanoma: Comparison among primary tumors, tumors resistant to brachytherapy, tumors with liver metastases, and liver metastases. Current Eye Research 31:251-257.
Kadkol S.S., Lin A.Y., Barak V., Kalickman I., Leach L., Majumdar D., Setty S., Maniotis A.J., Folberg R., and Pe'er J (2006) Osteopontin expression and serum levels in metastatic uveal melanoma – a pilot study. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 47:802-806.
Millodot M., Hendler K., and Pe'er J. (2006) Iris melanoma: A case report. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics 26:120-126.
Pe'er J. (2006) Current approach to treating pre-malignant and malignant conjunctival tumors. Ophthalmology International 1:17-21.
Pe'er J., Sancho C., Cantu J., Eilam S., Barzel I., Shulman M., and Blumenthal E.Z. (2006) Measurement of choroidal melanoma basal diameter by wide-angle digital fundus camera: A comparison with ultrasound measurement. Ophthalmologica 220:194-197.
Folberg R., Arbieva Z., Moses J., Hayee A., Sandal T., Kadkol S., Lin A.Y., Valyi-Nagi, K., Setty S., Leach L., Chevez-Barrios P., Larsen P., Majumdar D., Pe'er J., and Maniotis A.J. (2006) Tumor cell plasticity in uveal melanoma: Microenvironment directed dampening of the invasive and metastatic genotype and phenotype accompanies the generation of vasculogenic mimicry patterns. American Journal of Pathology 169:1376-1389.
Kaiserman I., Kaiserman N., and Pe'er J. (2006) Long-term ultrasonic follow-up of choroidal nevi and their transformation to melanoma. British Journal of Ophthalmology 90: 994-998.
Vicuna-Kojchen J., Banin E., Averbukh E., Barzel I., Shulman M., Hemo I., Pe'er J., and Chowers I. (2006) Application of the standard photodynamic treatment protocol for symptomatic circumscribed choroidal hemangioma. Ophthalmologica 220:351-355.
Frenkel S., Barzel I., Levy J., Lin A.Y., Bartsch D.U., Majumdar D., Folberg R., and Pe'er J. (2007) Demonstrating circulation in vasculogenic mimicry patterns of uveal melanoma by confocal indocyanine green angiography. EYE (in press).
Barak V., Frenkel S., Kalickman I., Maniotis A.J., Folberg R., and Pe'er J. (2007) Serum markers to detect metastatic uveal melanoma. Anticancer Research 27:1897-1900.
Goldberg S., Frenkel S., Blumenthal E.Z., Solomon A., and Pe'er J. (2007) Neovascular glaucoma in intraocular lymphoma. Ophthalmology 114:1236-1237.
Lin A.Y., Ai Z., Lee S.-C., Pajcsy P., Pe'er J., Leach L., Maniotis A.J., and Folberg R. (2007) Comparing vasculogenic mimicry and endothelial cell lined vessels: Techniques for 3D reconstruction and quantitative analysis of tissue components from archival paraffin blocks. Applied Immunohistochemistry and Molecular Morphology 15:113-119.
Pe'er J., Blumenthal E.Z., and Frenkel S. (2007) Punch biopsy of iris lesions: A novel technique for obtaining histology samples. British Journal of Ophthalmology 91:660-662.
Folberg R., Leach L., Valyi-Nagy K., Lin A.Y., Marsha A., Apushkin M.A., Ai Z., Barak V., Majumdar D., Pe'er J., and Maniotis A.J. (2007) Modeling the behavior of uveal melanoma in the liver. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 48:2967-2974.
Gall N., Leiba H., Handzel R., and Pe'er J. (2007) Severe radiation retinopathy and optic neuropathy after brachytherapy for choroidal melanoma, treated by hyperbaric oxygen. EYE 21:1010-1012.
Pe'er J., Maly A., Deckel Y., and Frenkel S. (2007) Solitary fibrous tumor of the conjunctiva. Archives of Ophthalmology 125:423-426.
Barak V., Frenkel S., Valyi-Nagy K., Leach L., Apushkin M.A., Lin A.Y., Kalickman I., Baumann N., Pe'er J., Maniotis A.J., and Folberg R. (2007) Using the direct-injection model of early uveal melanoma hepatic metastasis to identify TPS as a potentially useful serum biomarker. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (in press).
Meir T., Zeschnigk M., Masshofer L., Pe'er J., and Chowers I. (2007) The spatial distribution of monosomy 3 and network vasculogenic mimicry paterns in uveal melanoma. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 48:1918-1922.
Meir T., Dror R., Yu X., Qian J., Simon I. Pe'er J., and Chowers I. (2007) Molecular characteristics of liver metastases from uveal melanoma. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (in press).
Weintraub M., Revel-Vilk S., Charit M., Aker M., and Pe'er J. (2007) Secondary acute myeloid leukemia following etoposide therapy for retinoblastoma. Journal of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (in press).
Cornea and ocular surface
Espana E.M., Solomon A., and Tseng S.C.G. (2003) Amniotic membrane transplantation for bullous keratopathy in eyes with poor visual potential. Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery 29:279-284.
Kaiserman, I. (2003) Large subconjunctival emphysema causing diplopia and lagophthalmos. European Journal of Ophthalmology 13:86-87.
Kaiserman I. (2003) Severe allergic blepharoconjunctivitis induced by a dye for eyelashes and eyebrows. Ocular Immunology and Inflammation 11:149-151.
Li de-Q., Shang T.Y., Kim H.S., Solomon A., Lokeshwar B.L., and Pflugfelder S.C. (2003) Regulated expression of collagenases MMP-1, -8, and -13 and stromelysins MMP-3, -10, and -11 by human corneal epithelial cells. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 44:2928-2936.
Solomon A., Chowers I., Raiskup F., Siganos C.S., and Frucht-Pery J. (2003) Inadvertent conjunctival trauma related to contact with drug container tips: a “masquerade syndrome". Ophthalmology 110:796-800.
Solomon A., Espana E.M., and Tseng S.C.G. (2003) Amniotic membrane transplantation for reconstruction of conjunctival fornices. Ophthalmology 110:93-100.
Solomon A., Grueterich M., Li D.Q., Lee S.B., Meller D., and Tseng S.C.G. (2003) Overexpression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGF-BP2) in pterygium body fibroblasts. IOVS 44:573-580.
Zamir E. and Solomon A. (2003) Interstomal corneal epithelial cyst following epikeratoplasty. Archives of Ophthalmology 121:1510.
Espana E.M., Di Pascuale M., Grueterich M., Solomon A., and Tseng S.C.G. (2004) Keratolimbal allograft in corneal reconstruction. Eye 18:406-417.
Solomon A., Kaiserman I., Raiskup F.D., Landau D., and Frucht-Pery J. (2004) Long-term effects of Mitomycin C in pterygium surgery on sceral thickness and the conjunctival epithelium. Ophthalmology 111:1522-1527.
Solomon A., Zamir E., Levartovsky S., and Frucht-Pery J (2004) Surgical management of corneal plaques in vernal keratoconjunctivitis: A clinico-pathologic study. Cornea 23:608-612.
Zamir E., Pe'er J., and Solomon A (2004) Cogan syndrome with disfiguring lipid keratopathy (photo essay). Archives of Ophthalmology 122:1242-1243.
Kaiserman I., Kaiserman N., Nakar S., and Vinker S (2005) Dry eye in diabetic patients. American Journal of Ophthalmology 139:498-503.
Kaiserman I. Kaiserman N., Nakar S., and Vinker S. (2005) Herpetic eye disease in diabetic patients. Ophthalmology 112:2184-2188.
Yahalom C., Mechoulam H., Raiskup F., Solomon A., Pe'er J., and Frucht-Pery J (2005) Forty years of changing indications of penetrating keratoplasty in Israel. Cornea 24:256-258.
Frucht-Pery J., Raiskup F.D., Ilsar M., Landau D., Orucov F., and Solomon A. (2006) Conjunctival autografting combined with low-dose mitomycin C for prevention of primary pterygium recurrence. American Journal of Ophthalmology 141:1044-1050.
Molecular ophthalmology
Banin E., Obolensky A., Piontek Y., Falk H., Pikarsky E., Pe'er J., Panet A., and Chowers I. (2003) Gene delivery by viral vectors in primary cultures of lacrimal gland tissues. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 44:1529-1533.
Chowers I., Gunatilaka T.L. , Farkas R.H., Qian J., Hackam S.H., Duh E., Kageyama M., Vora A., Campochiaro P.A., and Zack, D.J. (2003) Identification of novel retina-enriched genes using a custom human retina cDNA microarray. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 44:3732-3741.
Chowers I., Liu D., Farkas R.H., Gunatilaka T.L., Hackam A.S., Bernstein S.L., Campochiaro P.A., Parmigiani G., and Zack D.J. (2003) Gene expression variation in the adult human retina. Human Molecular Genetics 12:2881-2893.
Sharon D., Sandberg M.A., Caruso R.C., Berson E.L., and Dryja T.P. (2003) Shared mutations in NR2E3 in enhanced S-cone syndrome, Goldmann-Favre syndrome, and many cases of clumped pigmentary retinal degeneration. Archives of Ophthalmology 121:1316-1323.
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