By Molika Ashford
In a stem-cell breakthrough, scientists have illuminated a new way forward in treating diseases of the eye: turning skin cells into eye cells.
The retina is a lush layered field of tissue lining the back of the eye, a complex mix of specialized cells that serve as a transfer station where light signals are absorbed and sent to the brain to be translated into sight.
Researchers from University of Wisconsin, Madison have now created these unique retina cells from lowly skin cells -- opening the possibility that patients with damaged or diseased retinas might some day be able to grow themselves a cure from their own skin.
First, scientists turned the skin cells into IPS cells (induced pluripotent stem cells), the skin-derived stem cells that have emerged as an alternative to embryonic stem cells. Bathed with a cocktail of chemicals, the IPS cells were then morphed into a variety of retinal cells, including the all-important photoreceptors that translate light signals into electrical signals for our brains to parse as vision.
The scientists report that it is exciting not only to be able to create multiple types of retinal cells, but also that the process appears quite similar to normal retinal development (except in a plastic dish). The group also created retinal cells with embryonic stem cells, but the skin cell method offers an advantage -- patients with genetic diseases of the retina could use their skin to grow a crop of diseased retina cells, which could then be subjected to a variety of test treatments in the lab, hopefully hitting on something that works someday.
The cells might also serve as a treatment themselves, whether grown from IPS cells or embryonic stem cells. Previous studies have improved vision in mice by treating their retinas with stem cells, and this development might help extend that research to humans.
Though in a very early stage, the project is a strong step toward new treatments for an array of debilitating vision disorders.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
UF reports possible breakthrough on treating macular degeneration
By Diane Chun
Staff writer
Published: Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.
A new approach to repairing damaged retinas in mice offers a ray of hope for some two million Americans with an age-related eye condition called macular degeneration.
University of Florida researchers report that they were able to program adult stem cells from mice to transform themselves into vision cells, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes of vision loss in older people.
In a paper to be published in September's Molecular Therapy, scientists describe how they used a virus carrying a gene that gently pushed cultured adult stem cells toward a fate as retinal cells. When the cultured cells were reintroduced into the mice, they were completely transformed into the desired type of vision cells.
"To our knowledge, this is the first reported use of targeted gene manipulation to specifically program an adult stem cell to become a new cell type," said Dr. Maria Grant, professor of pharmacology and therapeutics in the UF College of Medicine.
Ultimately, Grant said, the findings suggest that the same thing could be done with drugs.
"You would not give the drugs to the patient," she explained, "you would give the drugs to their cells. Take the cells out, activate certain chemical pathways, then put the cells back into the patient."
The researchers were able to use chemical compounds that mirrored environmental conditions in the body to point the stem cells toward their ultimate identities as vision cells.
In essence, they were successful in tricking the stem cell into thinking it is a retinal cell and behaving accordingly.
"This implies a whole new field of stem cell research that uses drug manipulation rather than genetic manipulation to send these immature cells along a new pathway," said Grant.
She collaborated in the work with Edward Scott, director of the program in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at UF's McKnight Brain Institute.
"This work applies to 85 percent of patients who have age-related macular degeneration," Grant said. "There are no therapies for this devastating disease."
for more information contact www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Staff writer
Published: Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.
A new approach to repairing damaged retinas in mice offers a ray of hope for some two million Americans with an age-related eye condition called macular degeneration.
University of Florida researchers report that they were able to program adult stem cells from mice to transform themselves into vision cells, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes of vision loss in older people.
In a paper to be published in September's Molecular Therapy, scientists describe how they used a virus carrying a gene that gently pushed cultured adult stem cells toward a fate as retinal cells. When the cultured cells were reintroduced into the mice, they were completely transformed into the desired type of vision cells.
"To our knowledge, this is the first reported use of targeted gene manipulation to specifically program an adult stem cell to become a new cell type," said Dr. Maria Grant, professor of pharmacology and therapeutics in the UF College of Medicine.
Ultimately, Grant said, the findings suggest that the same thing could be done with drugs.
"You would not give the drugs to the patient," she explained, "you would give the drugs to their cells. Take the cells out, activate certain chemical pathways, then put the cells back into the patient."
The researchers were able to use chemical compounds that mirrored environmental conditions in the body to point the stem cells toward their ultimate identities as vision cells.
In essence, they were successful in tricking the stem cell into thinking it is a retinal cell and behaving accordingly.
"This implies a whole new field of stem cell research that uses drug manipulation rather than genetic manipulation to send these immature cells along a new pathway," said Grant.
She collaborated in the work with Edward Scott, director of the program in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at UF's McKnight Brain Institute.
"This work applies to 85 percent of patients who have age-related macular degeneration," Grant said. "There are no therapies for this devastating disease."
for more information contact www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
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