Challenges of cell therapies for retinal diseases

Abstract

Because retinal cells could not regenerate in mammals, retinal degeneration is an irreversible phenomenon caused by various disease conditions including age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). During the course of these diseases, photoreceptors (PRs) are susceptible to degenerate due to their malfunctions or to a primary dysfunction of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). These diseases affect millions of individuals worldwide. Many therapies currently under development are designed to treat retinal pathologies and among those, cell-based replacement strategies hold significant promise for treatment of retinal degenerative diseases, especially when atrophy of retinal tissue occurs. This review will focus on the use of hPSCs to slow-down or treat retinal disorders and discuss current challenges to achieve successful engraftment of cell products.

Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration; Cell therapy; Human pluripotent stem cells; Retinitis pigmentosa; Retinopathies.