Differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into retinal cells

Abstract

Retinal and macular degeneration disorders are characterized by a progressive loss of photoreceptors, which causes visual impairment and blindness. In some cases, the visual loss is caused by dysfunction, degeneration and loss of underlying retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and the subsequent death of photoreceptors. The grim reality is that there is no successful treatment for most of these blindness disorders. Cell therapy aimed at replenishing the degenerating cells is considered a potential therapeutic approach that may delay, halt or perhaps even reverse degeneration, as well as improve retinal function and prevent blindness in the aforementioned conditions. Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may serve as an unlimited donor source of photoreceptors and RPE cells for transplantation into degenerating retinas and for retinal disease modeling.