Retinal degenerations are the leading cause of blindness and fixing a defective retina is not an easy task.
Fortunately, a model system in nonhuman primates that has been used to test retinal replacement with stem cell-derived retinal cells has seen some success. In several experiment in small animals, retinal transplantations helped blind animals regain their sight. However, small laboratory rodents are not terribly good model systems for human eye problems.
To address the clinical relevancy of this transplantation system, Shirai and colleagues confirmed in rats and in macaques that transplantion of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)–derived retinas integrate into the already-existing retina and develop as fully mature retinal grafts.
In this paper, Shirai and others established the developmental stage at which embryonic stem cell-derived retinal cells could integrate into the retina and replace damaged cells. By transplanting cells into nude rats that do not have the ability to reject transplanted tissue, they refined their cell-based technique to heal damaged retinas. Then they took their refined technique into macques to treat two newly established monkey models of retinal degeneration.
In the first model system, Shirai et al. exposed one group monkeys to retina-damaging chemicals, and the other group had their retinas damaged by lasers. In both cases, the result was photoreceptor degeneration. Anywhere from 46 to 109 days after injury, the human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal sheets were implanted into the damaged retinas.
The retinal grafts integrated into the primate eyes and continued to differentiate into cone and rod cells, which are the two types of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Functional studies are still being conducted, but if vision can be improved, but these new macaque models confirm the clinical potential of stem cell–derived grafts for retinal blindness that results from photoreceptor degeneration.
See H. Shirai et al., Transplantation of human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal tissue in two primate models of retinal degeneration. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 113, E81–E90 (2015).
Beyond the Dish 