Retinal dystrophies such as Retinitis pigmentosa are among the most prevalent causes of inherited legal blindness, for which treatments are in demand. Retinal prostheses have been developed to stimulate the inner retinal network that, initially spared by degeneration, deteriorates in the late stages of the disease. We recently reported that conjugated polymer nanoparticles persistently rescue visual activities after a single subretinal injection in the Royal College of Surgeons rat model of Retinitis pigmentosa. Here we demonstrate that conjugated polymer nanoparticles can reinstate physiological signals at the cortical level and visually driven activities when microinjected in 10-months-old Royal College of Surgeons rats bearing fully light-insensitive retinas. The extent of visual restoration positively correlates with the nanoparticle density and hybrid contacts with second-order retinal neurons. The results establish the functional role of organic photovoltaic nanoparticles in restoring visual activities in fully degenerate retinas with intense inner retina rewiring, a stage of the disease in which patients are subjected to prosthetic interventions.

视网膜营养不良如色素性视网膜炎是遗传性法定失明的最常见原因之一，需要治疗。已经开发出视网膜假体来刺激内部视网膜网络，该网络最初因退化而幸免于难，在疾病的晚期会恶化。我们最近报道，在皇家外科学院的色素性视网膜炎大鼠模型中，单次视网膜下注射后，共轭聚合物纳米颗粒持续挽救视觉活动. 在这里，我们展示了在 10 个月大的皇家外科医学院大鼠身上进行显微注射时，共轭聚合物纳米粒子可以恢复皮质水平的生理信号和视觉驱动的活动，这些大鼠具有完全不敏感的视网膜。视觉恢复的程度与纳米颗粒密度和与二级视网膜神经元的混合接触呈正相关。结果确定了有机光伏纳米粒子在恢复完全退化视网膜的视觉活动中的功能作用，具有强烈的内部视网膜重新布线，这是患者接受假体干预的疾病阶段。