In a recent breakthrough, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have successfully grown retinal cells from two types of stem cells, a critical step in treatments of certain kinds of blindness.
Noticing a lack of stem cell research involving the retina, lead researcher David Gamm, a faculty member in the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Department, member of the UW Eye Research Institute, and research scientist Jason Meyer decided it was time to apply techniques successful in growing other types of cells to diseases of the retina.
The team used two different types of stem cells that “differentiated” or became retinal cells—embryonic stem cells and cells from adult skin tissues that can be coaxed into becoming multiple types of cells (induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells).
This work has built upon previous work at UW by James Thomson, a global leader in stem cell research and a professor at the School of Medicine and Public Health, who recently announced that he had made iPS cells from skin cells.
Gamm and Meyer’s group found that the steps and timing toward making retinal cells were similar to making other types of stem cells, however deriving retinal cells from iPS cells has an advantage over deriving them from ES cells.
“They would be an immunological match to the patient,” Meyer said.
The stem cells used by the team gave rise to multiple type of retinal cells, all of which are needed for the normal functioning of the retina, and the retinal cells obtained are very similar to those found in normal development of the eye.
Photoreceptors, for example, which are cells that are sensitive to light and help the eye detect colors, were among the most abundant type of retinal cells grown.
This has potential implications for the genetic disease retinitis pigmentosa that involves damage to photoreceptors and can lead to loss of vision.
“Retinitis pigmentosa is one of the most devastating diseases we’ve come across,” said Gamm, who has a background in pediatric eye care.
In the future, scientists may be able to transplant retinal cells, grown from a patient’s skin cells, into his or her retina to help treat and cure diseases like retinitis pigmentosa.
“[The idea is to find] a way to regenerate or replace cells that are lost or damaged from disease or other issues,” said Paul Kaufman, chair of the UW Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Department.
“It sounds like a bad science fiction plot, but it is intelligent and scientifically creative,“ Kaufman added.
According to Gamm, growing retinal cells from stem cells will help researchers study human retinal development, develop better drugs, and create models to understand retinal disease.
However, scientists cautioned that the actual transplantation of retinal cells in patients would probably not be for quite some time in the future.
“It’s probably a long way off, certainly longer than we’d hope,” said Curtis Brandt, a faculty member of the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Department and member of the UW Eye Research Institute. “We aren’t going to get there until we know how the differentiation of cells is controlled.”
Gamm said the next step is to look at the development of retinal cells at a more detailed level. The similarities seen between stem cell-derived retinal cells and normal retinal cell development still needs significant research.
“We are in the baby steps of this,” Gamm said. “Ultimately, our goal is to help patients.”
Breakthrough UW study may lead to cure for blindness in the future
Published: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Updated: Monday, October 5, 2009
Be the first to comment on this article!