Extracellular vesicles (EV) are nanosized delivery vehicles which are released from all cell types and function in cell-to-cell communication by selectively packaging and delivering key molecular cargo including RNA, proteins, and DNA to recipient cells to induce a biological response. Our research has identified that loss of EV-mediated communication is associated with the development of retinal degenerations, and that EV-mediated transport of molecular cargo including microRNA is required for retinal health and immune modulation.

Our research focus is therefore on:

1. Understanding the role of EV in retinal health and disease pathogenesis

   We are characterising the molecular cargo and composition of retinal EV across models of retinal degeneration to identify EV essential cargo and communication pathways involved in retinal health and degeneration.

2. Developing treatment approaches to restore EV communication in the retina and slow disease progression.

   We are exploring the use of natural, non-immunogenic EV as novel therapeutics for the treatment of retinal degenerations, primarily focused on red blood cell-EV and stem cell-EV. We have existing commercial partnerships and contracts, and have formed a start-up company ErythroSight (https://www.clearvisionresearch.com/erythrosight) to enable translational outcomes of this work

   EV are known to be efficient at delivering their molecular contents to recipient cells. To utilize this high delivery efficiency, we are developing ways to enrich retinal exosomes with specific therapeutic payloads in an effort to deliver these directly into the degenerating retina, and using surface modifications for cell-specific targeted delivery.