Title:Regenerative Medicine in Retina: The Future Cure
Volume: 5
Issue: 1
Author(s): Sunita Mohan, Siddhita Nare, Sundaram Natarajan and Govindasamy Kumaramanickavel
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Age-related macular degeneration, Retinitis Pigmentosa, Regenerative Medicine, Stargardt disease, Stem Cells.
Abstract: Regenerative medicine (RM) possesses the ability to repair injured as well as aging cells,
tissues and organs. This review discusses the recent advances, future prospects and challenges in the
field of RM mainly the stem cell therapy in degenerative retinal diseases such as age related macular
degeneration (AMD), retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and Stargardt disease (STGD). Stem cell lines like
retinal progenitor cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, embryonic stem cells
and very small embryonic-like stem cells have potential application in the degenerative retinal diseases
where they have the potency to regenerate the injured and damaged photoreceptors and retinal
neurons ultimately restoring and enhancing the visual functions. Stem cell transplantation for AMD, RP and STGD is currently
transforming from bench side research to bedside which may eventually allow the progress of the more advanced
therapies. In future, stem cell therapy could be combined with bioengineered products and small molecules to produce
novel therapies in the field of ophthalmology particularly in terms of visual recovery to fight against blindness.