STEM CELL THERAPY AND CELL TRANSPLANTATION

The future
In recent years we have made a lot of progress towards the successful application of stem cell therapy. We know that we can isolate promising stem cells from various tissues in animal eye and culture these in the laboratory. We have also shown that if we have cells in the right stage of development, they will integrate into adult retina and make the right connections with the retina. We know that these integrated cells are active because we can regain light sensitivity in retinas of mice with RP.

These results form a stepping stone, but before this therapy can be considered for patients, we will need to achieve several more goals:

1. We will need to link up our two sets of results; we have to induce differentiation in our cultured stem cells to get them to the correct stage for integration in the retina.
2. We have to optimise the integration of cells into the retina. At the moment only a small proportion of the injected cells integrates into the retina. Although this does confer light sensitivity in the mouse, it is unlikely to result in visual acuity. If the integration process can be improved, we may be able to restore vision further.
3. We have to show we can isolate human stem cells from the various eye tissues and culture and differentiate them similar to the stem cells from animal origin.
4. We have to show that the injection of stem cells in the eye can be done safely before treatment of patients can be considered.

It is difficult to predict how long it will take to optimise the differentiation and integration processes, but it is likely that it will require considerable time before stem cell therapy trials can be considered.

This page last modified 18 December, 2012 by xxx