Three Blind Mice See Again Thanks to Cell Transplants
Posted November 9th, 2006by Jenann Elias
Transplants done by British and American scientists have restored vision in blind mice. The mice had eye diseases caused by genetic defects, and suffered from eye damage caused by macular degeneration.
Previous attempts using transplants had been unsuccessful. Scientists say this was because they had been using stem cells. Stem cells have the potential to turn into any type of cell in the body, but the odds of them developing into photoreceptors on their own is almost zero.
In the recent attempts, instead of using stem cells, scientists used cells that were already programmed to become photoreceptors, called “precursor” cells. The cells were harvested from newborn mice that were developing their eyesight. The researchers implanted the retinal cells from the newborns into the eyes of the mature blind mice, and the precursor cells then developed into photoreceptors. Testing confirmed that the previously blind mice were able to see.
Scientists believe precursor cells could eventually be created from adult stem-cell-like cells found near the retina.
Dr. Robert MacLaren, one of the scientists from the research team, said “We will be pursuing the idea of using the stem cell-like retinal cells, particularly as these could be harvested from the affected patient, thus avoiding rejection.”
Before humans can receive this type of treatment, it will be necessary to generate much larger numbers of cells for transplantation. The good news is diseases like macular degeneration only affect the central part of the eye, thus limiting the number of replacement cells needed.
Scientists believe continued research could lead to the first human retinal cell transplants within the decade.
Resources:
Times Online: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2443859,00.html