An Update on the Use of Gene Therapies to Convert Retinal Cells

A few years back, researchers reported on a novel approach to treating the degenerative blindness of retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited condition in which the rod photoreceptor cells responsible for low-light and peripheral vision become progressively more dysfunctional, eventually leading to the death of other retinal cells. The researchers found that tinkering with levels of Nrl in retinal tissues can make rod cells transform into something more like the cone cells responsible for color vision. In normal development of retinal photoreceptor cells, those with a lot of Nrl become rods, while those with less become cones, but as demonstrated by this team, adult photoreceptors can be coerced into taking on the character or one or the other. While this isn't as good as fixing the underlying problem that causes rod cell dysfunction, it so far appears to be a potentially beneficial approach.

This is far from the only situation in the human body in which some form of conversion of adult cells might be helpful as a palliative or compensatory treatment, in absence of a true cure that addresses root causes. There are many examples of specialist cell populations impacted by aging or disease, arising from a common progenitor and thus closely related to surrounding cells. Dopaminergenic neurons, islet cells, and so on through a long list of cell types. I don't think that researchers should be starting out with this sort of approach as the end goal of their work medicine - that end...

Source: Fight Aging! - March 15, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs