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. 2013 Apr;8(2):147-59.

Advances in retinal stem cell biology

Andrea S Viczian  1
Affiliations

Advances in retinal stem cell biology

Andrea S Viczian. J Ophthalmic Vis Res. 2013 Apr.

Abstract

Tremendous progress has been made in recent years to generate retinal cells from pluripotent cell sources. These advances provide hope for those suffering from blindness due to lost retinal cells. Understanding the intrinsic genetic network in model organisms, like fly and frog, has led to a better understanding of the extrinsic signaling pathways necessary for retinal progenitor cell formation in mouse and human cell cultures. This review focuses on the culture methods used by different groups, which has culminated in the generation of laminated retinal tissue from both embryonic and induced pluripotent cells. The review also briefly describes advances made in transplantation studies using donor retinal progenitor and cultured retinal cells.

Keywords: Artificial Retina; Cone Photoreceptors; Embryonic Stem Cells, ES; Eye; Ganglion Cells; Genetic Network; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, iPS; Noggin; Retina; Signaling Pathways; Stromal Cells.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic of eye development in frog, mouse and human; the eye develops from cells in the anterior neural plate and is drawn in blue throughout all stages of development. The optic vesicle schematic is a cross-section of the embryo, showing the eye bud. Retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) are found in the optic cup after evagination. The retinal cells are born in order shown from left to right. GC, ganglion cell; hz, horizontal cell; BP, bipolar cell; Müller, müller glia
Figure 2
Figure 2
Ilustration summarizing the cell culture methods used to generate retinal cells from embryonic stem cell cultures; the method name is in the upper left hand corner. Days in culture are indicated above the bars. Each culture ingredient is indicated by the same color words above or underneath the bars. Adherent cultures are solid bars while floating cultures are dots. CT, cholera toxin; RA, retinoic acid; LIF, leukemia inhibitory factor; FCS, fetal calf serum; DKK-1, Dickkopf WNT signaling pathway inhibitor 1; IGF-1, insulin-like growth factor 1; bFGF, basic fibroblast growth factor; ESCM, embryonic stem cell media; Retinal diff media, retinal differentiation media
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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