Mahato, B. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2201-4 (2020)

Retinopathies can result in the death of photoreceptors and irreversible vision loss. Stem-cell therapies to replace lost cells are promising, but they are time-consuming, costly and still far off routine clinical practice.

A new study published in Nature shows that fibroblasts can be directly converted into rod photoreceptor-like cells by using a cocktail of five compounds (valproic acid, CHIR99021, RepSox, forskolin, and IWR1). Transplantation of chemically induced photoreceptor-like cells (CiPCs) into the subretinal space in a mouse model of retinal degeneration partially restored pupil reflex and visual function. CiPCs, which bypass the requirement of pluripotent stem cells, are promising cell-replacement candidates for vision restoration strategies.