Stem cell based therapies for age-related macular degeneration: The promises and the challenges

Publication date: Available online 23 June 2015 Source:Progress in Retinal and Eye Research Author(s): Hossein Nazari , Lily Zhang , Danhong Zhu , Gerald J. Chader , Paulo Falabella , Francisco Stefanini , Teisha Rawland , Dennis O. Clegg , Amir H. Kashani , David R. Hinton , Mark S. Humayun Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness among the elderly in developed countries. AMD is classified as either neovascular (NV-AMD) or non-neovascular (NNV-AMD). Cumulative damage to the retinal pigment epithelium, Bruch's membrane, and choriocapillaris leads to dysfunction and loss of RPE cells. This causes degeneration of the overlying photoreceptors and consequential vision loss in advanced NNV-AMD (Geographic Atrophy). In NV-AMD, abnormal growth of capillaries under the retina and RPE, which leads to hemorrhage and fluid leakage, is the main cause of photoreceptor damage. Although a number of drugs (e.g., anti-VEGF) are in use for NV-AMD, there is currently no treatment for advanced NNV-AMD. However, replacing dead or dysfunctional RPE with healthy RPE has been shown to rescue dying photoreceptors and improve vision in animal models of retinal degeneration and possibly in AMD patients. Differentiation of RPE from human embryonic stem cells (hESC-RPE) and from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC-RPE) has created a potentially unlimited source for replacing dead or dying RPE. Such cells have been shown to incorporate into the degenerating ...
Source: Progress in Retinal and Eye Research - Category: Opthalmology Source Type: research