Clay Beauregard, Ph.D. Schepens Eye Research Institute 20 Staniford Street Boston, MA 02114 Tel.: (617) 912-7457 Fax.: (617) 912-0101 E-Mail: beauregard@vision.eri.harvard.edu Sponsor M. Reza Dana, M.D., M.P.H. dana@vision.eri.harvard.edu

"The Molecular Bases of Eye Diseases training program at Harvard Medical School is a great opportunity for postdoctoral trainees to further themselves and their science. We have access to some of the best laboratories and investigators in the ophthalmology fields. The training program itself is exceptionally run at all levels, from the president of the institute to the administrative staff. Trainees are given skills that will help them throughout their careers as scientists."

The overall goal of my project is to examine the role of apoptosis in corneal inflammation and corneal allograft rejection in the mouse model. I am measuring apoptosis and caspase expression in cultured corneal stromal and endothelial cells, as well as ex vivo from inflamed and grafted mouse corneas. The hypothesis is that the local cytokine environment (especially FasL/CD95L and TNF-a) in the cornea during inflammation and grafting induces apoptosis, leading to "bystander" death of resident corneal cells. The death of corneal stromal and/or endothelial cells may be a factor in the rejection of transplanted corneas. To this end, I am employing anti-apoptotic therapy to mouse models of corneal inflammation and transplantation.

Publications

Beauregard C, Brandt PC, Chiou GCY. Induction of nitric oxide synthase and over-production of nitric oxide by interleukin-1b in cultured lacrimal gland acinar cells. Exp Eye Res (in press).

Beauregard C, Brandt PC, Chiou GCY. Stimulation of protein secretion from cultured lacrimal gland acinar cells by nitric oxide-producing compounds. J Ocular Pharmacol Ther (in press).

Beauregard C, Liu Q, Chiou GCY. Effects of nitric oxide donors and nitric oxide synthase substrates on isolated ciliary muscle contracted with carbachol or endothelin: possible use in myopia prevention. J Ocular Pharmacol Ther 2001;17:1-10.

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Last updated: November 08, 2002