Extracellular, stem cells and regenerative ophthalmology

Abstract

Retinal degenerative diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, and glaucoma, still lack effective medical treatments. The stem cell-based regenerative approach has been proposed to treat these degenerative diseases. The major challenge for regenerative ophthalmology is to produce enough desirable retinal neurons in vitro from various stem cell types. Extracellular matrix proteins are important for stem cell self-renewal and differentiation in various systems. They have also been used in combination with various growth factors to expand retinal stem cells and produce desirable retinal neuronal types. This review summarizes our current understanding of how extracellular matrix proteins regulate stem cell function and discusses their application in regenerative ophthalmology.

Figure 1

ECMs in stem cell regulation and regenerative ophthalmology. (A) ECM proteins regulate stem cell function via integrin-mediated cell adhesion and signaling. ECM-mediated integrin signaling can control stem cell self-renewal, proliferation, differentiation and survival directly or by working with other signaling pathways. (B) ECM proteins could have applications in four different areas of regenerative ophthalmology.