Research Faculty & Scientific Programs
Education and Clinical TrainingM.D.: 1950, Tufts University School of MedicineInternship: Surgery, 1951, Cleveland Metropolitan Hospital Residency: 1952, Mallory Institute Fellowship: Ophthalmic Pathology, 1953, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Residency: Ophthalmology, 1956, Wayne County General Hospital Residency: Ophthalmology, 1958, University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers Fellowship: Research in Ophthalmic Pathology, 1960, University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers Clinical SpecialtyOphthalmology, Certified: 1958Clinical Department/Section AffiliationsProfessor Emeritus, Ophthalmology/PathologyClinical InterestsInvestigation of the elastic tissue system especially elastic microfibrils in the eye (ocular zonules) using ultrastructural immunochemistry, tissue culture and electrophoretic methods; connective tissue disease associated with lens dislocation (ex. Marfan syndrome).Research Program and Department AffiliationsOphthalmologyResearch InterestsDiseases of the ocular zonule associated with lens dislocation and glaucoma, and other diseases of the ocular elastic tissue.Research AbstractThe ocular zonule is of great importance for normal vision since it is the sole structure attaching the ocular lens to the eye wall, suspending the lens in the fluid aqueous. The fibers of the zonule also transmit the force of the ciliary muscle to the lens, allowing the rapid accommodative movements needed to continuously change our visual focus between distance and near. If the zonular fibers are weakened by disease they may break and the lens will dislocate, with loss of ability to focus, sometimes resulting in inflammation within the eye or an increase in intraocular pressure, called glaucoma. The zonular fibers are composed of delicate but resilient bundles of microfibrils. These belong to the elastic system of the body and thus can be involved in a number of systemic elastic tissue diseases. Some of these diseases can be fatal as they affect not only the eye but also the heart, aorta or clotting systems. The most common disease is the Marfan syndrome which has mutations in fibrillin, the primary protein of the elastic system microfibrils throughout the body, resulting in increased height, elongated extremities, dislocated lenses and often premature death from sudden rupture of the aorta, such as on the basketball court. Other systemic diseases with lens dislocation are homocystinuria and Weill-Marchesani syndrome.To better understand the mechanisms of these diseases and their possible treatment, we need to learn much more about the structure of the elastic system microfibril, the other proteins associated with function and aggregation of microfibrils into bundles, as well as the cells within the eye involved in zonular microfibril synthesis, and regulation of that synthesis. Because of the scarcity of human ocular tissue, we are carrying out many of these studies in cell cultures from bovine and other animal eyes. The time course for microfibril fibrillogenesis during development will be established in fetal and young mouse eyes using cDNA probes for fibrillin. The mechanism of adhesion of microfibrils to the lens from their apparent origin on the posterior ciliary body is of great interest, and could hold the answer to many types of lens dislocation presently unexplained. Since these microfibrils in most sites act as stress fibers, attaching one basement membrane to another, or to deeper elasticized fibers, this study of adhesion molecules and their mechanisms will apply not only to dislocation of the lens but also to problems with microfibrils in other ocular and extraocular sites. The possibility of specific cross-linkages between the fibril and their adhesion to other structures in being investigated. Besides cell culture, the methods of investigation include in situ hybridization, electron microscopy, immunoelectron microscopy, rotary shadowing and freeze-etching with immunostaining. We also have a longstanding interest in pseudoexfoliation of the lens capsule, a lens-dislocating disease which appears to be systemic, occurring in middle and older age groups of all races. In this disease a complex of matrix proteins with a prominent component of fibrillin accumulates in the anterior portion of the eye, including the aqueous outflow channels. Pseudoexfoliation is associated with a particularly difficult and not uncommon form of glaucoma, frequently requiring surgical treatment. Besides investigating further the composition and synthesis of this unusual fibrillopathy, we are looking for a genetic basis for this disease by linkage analysis, in collaborative work. Selected References Qi Y, Streeten BW, Strauss JA: The relation of ßig-h3 to elastic system components in the limbal corneoscleral-trabecular region. Invest Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 41: S695, 2000. Streeten BW: Pathology of the Lens, Chap. 272. In Principles and Practice of Ophthalmology. D. Albert, F. Jakobiec, eds. W.B. Saunders Co. Phila., 2nd Ed., pgs 3685-3749, 1999. Qi Y, Streeten BW, Kagan H.M., Strauss, JA, Gibson, S.A.: Lysyl oxidase in Pseudoexfoliation Material: A Possible Cross-linking Agent (ARVO 1999). Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 40:S444, 1999. Streeten B.W., Qi Y, Klintworth GK, Eagle RW Jr, Strauss J, Bennett K.: Immunolocalization of ßIG-H3 in the 5q31-linked Corneal dystrophies and Normal Corneas. Arch Ophthalmol 117:67-75, 1999. Barker-Griffith AE,* Streeten BW,* Abraham JL,* Schaefer DP, Norton SW: Potato gun ocular injury. Ophthalmol. 105:535-538, 1998. Park JW, Palexas GN, Streeten BW, Green WR: Ocular involvement in familial erythrophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Graefes Arch. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 235(10):647-52, 1997. Qi Y., Streeten B.W., Wallace R.N.: HNK-1 Epitope in the lens-cilliary zonular region in normal pseudoexfoliation eyes. Immunohistochemistry and Ultrastructure. Arch. Ophthalmol. 115:637-44, 1997. Konstas, A.G.P., Ritch, R., Bufidis, T., Morales, J., Qi, Y., Streeten, B.W.: Exfoliation Syndrome in a 17 year old woman. Arch. Ophthalmol. 115(8):1063-7, 1997 Weisenthal, R.W., Streeten, B.W.: The posterior Membrane Dystrophies. In Cornea, Vol. II, Chap. 90, J.H. Krachmer, M.J. Mannis, E.J. Holland, eds. Mosby, Inc., St. Louis, pg. 1063-1090, 1996. Netland, P.A., Ye, H., Streeten, B.W., Hernandez, M.R. Elastosis of the lamina cribosa in pseudoexfoliation syndrome with glaucoma. Ophthalmol. 102:878-886, 1995. Streeten, B.W.: The Ciliary Body. In Foundations of Clinical Ophthalmology, eds. W. Tasman and E.A. Jaeger, Vol. 1. Chap. 13, J.B. Lippincott Co., PA, pg. 1-37, 1995. Streeten, B.W.: Pathology of the Lens, Chap. 183. In: Principles and Practice of Ophthalmology. D. Albert, F. Jackobiec, eds. W.B. Saunders Co. Phila. Pg. 2180-2239, 1994. Streeten, B.W., Dark, A.J.: Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome. Chap. 19. In Pathology of Ocular Disease. 2nd Ed. Part A. A. Garner and G.K. Klintworth, eds., Marcel Dekker Inc., New York. Pgs. 591-94, 1994. Streeten, B.W., Wilson, D.J.: Disorders of the Vitreous. Chap. 22, In Pathology of Ocular Disease 2nd Ed. Part A. A. Garner and G.K. Klinworth, eds., Marcel Dekker Inc., New York., pgs. 701-742, 1994. Streeten, B.W.: Aberrant Synthesis and Aggregation of Elastic Tissue Components in Pseudoexfoliative Fibrillopathy: A Unifying Concept. New Trends in Ophthalmol. 8:187-196, 1993. Publications - link to PubMedNote: The above PubMed link opens a new window. Close the PubMed window to return to this page.This profile was last updated on 11/13/2009 A short link is available for this profile: |
