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Patching the retina with stem cells

Nature Biotechnology volume 36, pages 311–313 (2018)Cite this article

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An engineered patch of retinal pigment epithelium shows promise in two macular degeneration patients.

Since their original derivation in 1998 (ref. 1), the potential of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to become any cell type in the body has provided hope for a new class of therapies aimed at replacing diseased or injured tissues. Two decades later, after much progress in learning how to convert pluripotent cells into a variety of cell types2, researchers have brought the first engineered tissue made from hESCs to patients. In this issue, da Cruz et al.3 report transplantation of a 'patch' of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) into the eyes of two individuals with the 'wet' form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The patch was created by growing hESC-derived RPE on a polyethylene terephthalate scaffold, which aids maturation of the RPE monolayer and provides mechanical support for delivery of the tissue under the retina. The authors demonstrate successful integration of the patch in the eyes of both patients and recovery of retinal function over the area of the patch.

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Figure 1: Schematic of the approach used by da Cruz et al.3.

Marina Corral Spence/Springer Nature

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kapil Bharti is in the Ocular Stem Cell and Translational Research Unit at the National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.,

    Kapil Bharti

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  1. Kapil Bharti
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Correspondence to Kapil Bharti.

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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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Bharti, K. Patching the retina with stem cells. Nat Biotechnol 36, 311–313 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4118

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