A potential new strategy for glaucoma cell replacement therapy has been identified by a multidisciplinary team led by researchers at the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear.

The researchers changed the microenvironment in the eye so they could take stem cells from blood and turn them into retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) capable of migrating and surviving into the eye’s retina. They conducted their study on the adult mouse retina, but believe the approach may one day be applied to human retina, according to findings published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).1

In current stem cell transplantation strategies in retina studies, most donor cells remain at the site of injection and do not migrate to where they are most needed.

In an at tempt to overcome this, the researchers created RGCs out of stem cells, then tested the ability of various signalling molecules known as chemokines to guide these new neurons to their correct positions within the retina. Using a “big data” approach, they analysed hundreds of such molecules and receptors to find 12 unique to RGCs. They found stromal derived factor 1 was the best per forming molecule for both migration and transplantation.

“This method of using chemokines to guide donor cell movement and integration represents a promising approach to restoring vision in glaucoma patients,” said senior author Dr Petr Baranov, of Mass Eye and Ear, and an assistant professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School.

Reference available at mivision.com.au