Medical

Physicians grow retinas from human blood-derived stem cells

Physicians grow retinas from human blood-derived stem cells
Physicians at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have succeeded in growing human retinal tissue from stem cells (Image: Shutterstock)
Physicians at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have succeeded in growing human retinal tissue from stem cells (Image: Shutterstock)
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University of Wisconsin-Madison
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University of Wisconsin-Madison
The left image is a schematic of the human retina, and on the right is a photomicrograph of the lab-grown retina (Images: State University of New York Downstate Medical Center/ University of Wisconsin-Madison)
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The left image is a schematic of the human retina, and on the right is a photomicrograph of the lab-grown retina (Images: State University of New York Downstate Medical Center/ University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Physicians at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have succeeded in growing human retinal tissue from stem cells (Image: Shutterstock)
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Physicians at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have succeeded in growing human retinal tissue from stem cells (Image: Shutterstock)
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Among the primary causes of adult-onset blindness are degenerative diseases of the retina, such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. While some treatments have been developed that slow down the rate of degeneration, the clinical situation is still generally unsatisfactory. But if you could grow a new retina, transplant might be a possible cure. Now new hope is springing up from a research project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in which scientists have succeeded in growing human retinal tissue from stem cells.

Pluripotent stem cells are capable of forming nearly any tissue in the body including retinal tissue. There has been great controversy about using pluripotent stem cells for human research or treatment, as historically the only source was to harvest them from early stage human embryos. Instead, for this work the researchers were able to regress mature body cells back into the pluripotent stem cells from which they originally grew. The process is called reprogramming, and is accomplished by inserting a set of proteins into the cell.

To produce the pluripotent stem cells, a white blood cell was taken from a simple blood sample. Genes which code for the reprogramming proteins are inserted into a plasmid, a nonliving ring of DNA. The cell is then infected with the plasmid, rather as a virus infects a cell, with the difference that the plasmid's genes do not become part of the cell's genetic structure. As the reprogramming proteins are formed within the cell by the plasmid DNA, the cell has a good chance of being reprogrammed into a pluripotent stem cell. This stem cell can then be encouraged to grow and differentiate into retinal tissue rather than make more blood cells.

Laboratory-grown human retinal tissue will certainly be used in testing drugs and to study degenerative diseases of the retina, and may eventually make available a new transplantable retina, or a new retina that is grown in place within the eye.

The left image is a schematic of the human retina, and on the right is a photomicrograph of the lab-grown retina (Images: State University of New York Downstate Medical Center/ University of Wisconsin-Madison)
The left image is a schematic of the human retina, and on the right is a photomicrograph of the lab-grown retina (Images: State University of New York Downstate Medical Center/ University of Wisconsin-Madison)

The figure above compares a schematic of the human retina with a photomicrograph of laboratory-grown retinal tissue. The new tissue has separated into at least three layers of cells, with rudimentary photosensitive rods or cones (red) at the top of the picture, and nerve ganglia (blue-green) at the bottom. The blue cells in the middle layer are likely bipolar retinal cells. The structure of the lab-grown retinal tissue is similar to that of a normal human eye, as can be seen by comparison with the retina schematic. The cells also formed synapses, which provide the channels through which optical information flows to the brain.

"We don't know how far this technology will take us, but the fact that we are able to grow a rudimentary retina structure from a patient's blood cells is encouraging, not only because it confirms our earlier work using human skin cells, but also because blood as a starting source is convenient to obtain," says Dr. David Gamm, pediatric ophthalmologist and senior author of the study. "This is a solid step forward." Further steps are eagerly awaited by those living in the dark.

Source: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

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5 comments
5 comments
Slowburn
Assuming you use the patents blood you won't have any problem with rejection ether.
electric38
Make sure this message gets sent to Cuba. They can add the technology to their "Miracle Vision" program which is bringing free sight to millions of children and adults around the world. Good article!
Gregg Eshelman
Researchers would still be mucking about with embryonic stem cells were it not for GWB's ban on government funding for new research on them.
There was never a ban on *non government* funding for embryonic stem cell research, but most of these research outfits seem to think they should subsist only on money taken from the citizenry.
These techniques would be nowhere as far along in development, if they even existed at all, without GWB's ban. Using a patient's own cells guarantees no rejection. Altering a "common stock" cell to have no rejection risk would be as difficult or more than converting a person's own cells to stem cells.
I bet most of these researchers would still gripe and complain about that funding ban, even though it pushed them towards more fruitful paths.
Razif Rafz
Agree with you Gregg. I feel this will be useful in developing crucial human organs which are in really short supply. This also will cut costs for maintaining the new implant organ which currently are expensive. Hope they will explore it more.
Carmatic Frua
While they are at it, can they also correct the flaw of the human retina where the blood vessels cover the light receptors? And also find a way to eliminate the blind spot too?