The Developmental Stage of Adult Human Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells Influences Transplant Efficacy for Vision Rescue. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of central visual loss in the elderly. Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell loss occurs early in the course of AMD and RPE cell transplantation holds promise to slow disease progression. We report that subretinal transplantation of RPE stem cell (RPESC)-derived RPE cells (RPESC-RPE) preserved vision in a rat model of RPE cell dysfunction. Importantly, the stage of differentiation that RPESC-RPE acquired prior to transplantation influenced the efficacy of vision rescue. Whereas cells at all stages of differentiation tested rescued photoreceptor layer morphology, an intermediate stage of RPESC-RPE differentiation obtained after 4 weeks of culture was more consistent at vision rescue than progeny that were differentiated for 2 weeks or 8 weeks of culture. Our results indicate that the developmental stage of RPESC-RPE significantly influences the efficacy of RPE cell replacement, which affects the therapeutic application of these cells for AMD.

publication date

  • June 15, 2017

Research

keywords

  • Adult Stem Cells
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Macular Degeneration
  • Retinal Pigment Epithelium

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC5511099

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85020840620

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.stemcr.2017.05.016

PubMed ID

  • 28625537

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 9

issue

  • 1