Retinal cells regeneration

Degenerative retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa cause progressive visual loss. Retinal pigmented epithelial cells and photoreceptors are the main retinal cells, which are involved in these disorders. Presently, no satisfactory therapeutic options are available for these diseases principally because the neurosensory retinal cells and retinal pigmented epithelial cells do not regenerate.Stem cells are undifferentiated cells, which have the ability to self-renew and differentiate into mature cells. They are highly proliferative, implying that an unlimited number of mature cells can be generated from a given stem cell source. Stem/progenitor cell approaches exhibit enormous potential for retinal degenerative disorders treatment using strategies mainly aimed at the rescue and replacement of photoreceptors and RPE. The sources of stem/progenitor cells are classified into two broad categories in this review, which are (1) ocular-derived progenitor cells, such as retinal progenitor cells, and (2) non-ocular-derived stem cells, including embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and mesenchymal stromal cells. In this presentation, I’ll discuss the progress in the study of predominant stem/progenitor cell types used for retinal degenerative disorders. A short overview of clinical trials involving the stem/progenitor cells will also be presented. Currently, stem/progenitor cell therapies for retinal degenerative disorders still have some drawbacks such as inhibited proliferation and/or differentiation in vitro (with the exception of the RPE) and limited long-term survival and function of grafts in vivo. Despite these challenges, stem/ progenitor cells represent the most promising strategy for retinal degenerative disorders treatment in the near future.

Keywords:

Stem cells , Retinal regeneration , Macular degeneration , Retinitis pigmentosa