Awakening Sleeping Stem Cells Holds Cure for Regenerating Damaged
Retina
Researchers at Schepens Eye Research Institute have given new hope
for regenerating the human retina damaged by disease or injury - by
successfully awakening sleeping stem cells.
They have identified a chemical in the eye that triggers the dormant
capacity of certain non-neuronal cells to transform into progenitor
cells - a stem-like cell that can generate new retinal cells.
According to the researchers, the discovery offers new hope to people
suffering from diseases that harm the retina, such as macular
degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.
"This study is very significant. It means it might be possible to
turn on the eye's own resources to regenerate damaged retinas,
without the need for transplanting outside retinal tissue or stem
cells," said Dr. Dong Feng Chen, associate scientist at Schepens Eye
Research Institute and Harvard Medical School, and the principal
investigator of the study.
Scientists are already aware of Muller cells and they have generally
assumed that they kept retinal tissue protected and clear of debris.
However, in recent years, researchers have reported that these cells
sometimes exhibit progenitor cell behaviour and re-enter the cell
cycle.
Progenitor cells are like stem cells but are more mature and are more
limited in the number of cells types they can become.
However, until this study, researchers couldn't understand what
triggers the transformation.
In the new study, Chen and her research team found that when the
naturally occurring chemicals known as glutamate and aminoadipate
were injected into the eye, the Muller cells began to divide and
proliferate.
Not certain if these chemicals directly signalled the transformation,
the researchers tested them in the laboratory and in mice. They added
each chemical separately to cultures of pure Muller cells and
injected each into the space below the retina in healthy mice.
The researchers found that in both cases, the cells became progenitor
cells and then changed into retinal cells. And with aminoadipate, the
newly minted retinal cells migrated to where they might be needed in
the retina and turned into desirable cell types.
The study specifically showed that by injecting the chemical below
the retina, the cells give rise to new photoreceptors - the type of
cells that are lost in retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration,
which causes blindness.
Now, the researchers are planning to test this process in animals
that have been bred to have diseases that mimic macular degeneration
and retinitis pigmentosa.
The study is published in the March issue of Investigative
Ophthalmology and Visual Science (IOVS).
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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