Hope for the patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a hereditary disease characterized by the progressive loss of photoreceptor cells. Disease pathology primarily affects rod photoreceptor cells first but light-insensitive cone photoreceptor bodies can survivor longer. Delivered by adeno-associated viral vector or lentiviral vector, expression of microbial-type rhodopsin, channelrhodopsin-2 or archaebacterial halorhodopsin in the survived retinal cells can substitute for the native phototransduction cascade in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa. It can also restore light sensitivity and activate all retinal cone pathways and drive sophisticated retinal circuit functions. Thus, expression of channelrhodopsins or halorhodopsin might be a potential strategy for the restoration vision of patients with RP.