Blind mice given sight with stem cell therapy
Source: AFP |
July 23, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BLIND mice have been able to see once more in a laboratory exploit that marks a further boost for the fast-moving field of retinal therapy.
Scientists in Britain used stem cells - early-stage, highly versatile cells - taken from mice embryos, and cultured them in a lab dish so that they differentiated into immature photoreceptors, the light-catching cells in the retina.
Around 200,000 of these cells were then injected into the mice's retinas, some of which integrated smoothly with local cells to restore sight.
The rodents were put through their paces in a water maze and examined by optometry to confirm that they responded to light.
Embryonic stem cells "could in future provide a potentially unlimited supply of healthy photoreceptors for retinal transplantations to treat blindness in humans," Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) said in a press release on Sunday.
Photoreceptor loss lies behind degenerative eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, also called AMD.
Stem cells have triggered a huge interest and investment on the back of hopes that they can become replacement tissue, grown in a lab dish, for cells damaged by disease or accident.
But the exciting field has to overcome big obstacles.
One is the ability to coax these immature cells into safely becoming the specialized cells that are needed, rather than turn cancerous.
The latest research takes things further than previous efforts because the transplanted material comprises all the different nerve cells needed for sight - and they were not taken from other animals.
Instead, they were grown in a laboratory and differentiated into the right cells thanks to a new technique that was pioneered in Japan that replicates the shape of the retina.
Scientists in Britain used stem cells - early-stage, highly versatile cells - taken from mice embryos, and cultured them in a lab dish so that they differentiated into immature photoreceptors, the light-catching cells in the retina.
Around 200,000 of these cells were then injected into the mice's retinas, some of which integrated smoothly with local cells to restore sight.
The rodents were put through their paces in a water maze and examined by optometry to confirm that they responded to light.
Embryonic stem cells "could in future provide a potentially unlimited supply of healthy photoreceptors for retinal transplantations to treat blindness in humans," Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) said in a press release on Sunday.
Photoreceptor loss lies behind degenerative eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, also called AMD.
Stem cells have triggered a huge interest and investment on the back of hopes that they can become replacement tissue, grown in a lab dish, for cells damaged by disease or accident.
But the exciting field has to overcome big obstacles.
One is the ability to coax these immature cells into safely becoming the specialized cells that are needed, rather than turn cancerous.
The latest research takes things further than previous efforts because the transplanted material comprises all the different nerve cells needed for sight - and they were not taken from other animals.
Instead, they were grown in a laboratory and differentiated into the right cells thanks to a new technique that was pioneered in Japan that replicates the shape of the retina.
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