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Bone marrow stem cells may fight retinal disease
LA JOLLA, Calif. — Adult bone marrow stem cells may be useful in forming new blood vessels in the eye — or in preventing their formation — to prevent vision loss from retinal diseases.
“We have shown that the cells can incorporate into the [degenerating] vasculature and make it normal,” said Martin Friedlander, MD, PhD, with The Scripps Research Institute, based here. “And when loaded with antiangiogenics, they can selectively wipe out the formation of new blood vessels.”
This antiangiogenic function might be useful against age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
Dr. Friedlander’s technique involves selecting stem cells from bone marrow that have the capability of becoming endothelial cells and injecting them into the eye.
In a mouse model of retinal disease, the stem cells differentiated into endothelial cells and proliferated and formed new blood vessels, Dr. Friedlander said. The researchers further found that they could stop angiogenesis by transfecting the stem cells with an angiogenesis inhibitor, also developed at Scripps.
The study will be published in the September issue of Nature Medicine.