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Transplanted photoreceptor precursor cells restored vision in mice
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Photoreceptor precursor cells may have the potential to differentiate into rod photoreceptors and integrate into adult retinas, an experimental study suggests. Researchers in England and the United States successfully transplanted such precursor cells into mice with models of inherited retinal degeneration, restoring visual function.
Anand Swaroop, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and at the Institute of Ophthalmology, London, evaluated the transplantation potential of cells obtained at different stages of development. The researchers found that both embryonic cells and adult retinal cells survived transplantation but did not integrate into the retina. However, cells obtained from retinas at postnatal days 1 to 7, which the researched termed "immature rod precursors," not only survived transplantation but integrated into the outer nuclear layer, according to the study.
Using pupillometry and extracellular field potential recordings from the ganglion cell layer, the researchers found that the transplanted cells were indeed light-responsive. This finding confirmed the presence of functional synaptic connections, according to the study.
"Here we show that donor cells can integrate into the adult or degenerating retina if they are taken from the developing retina at a time coincident with the peak of rod genesis. These transplanted cells integrate, differentiate into rod photoreceptors, form synaptic connections and improve visual function," the study authors said.
Unlike either proliferating progenitor cells or undifferentiated stem cells, cells obtained during the early postnatal period have been programmed to develop into photoreceptors but have not yet reached that stage, according to a press release from the University of Michigan.
"Rather than focusing on stem cells, we believed that if we could understand how cells develop and become photoreceptors — or any other specific neuron — our transplantation efforts would meet with greater success. This technique gives us new insights in repairing damage to the retina and possibly other parts of the central nervous system," Dr. Swaroop said in the release.
The next phase of research will focus on defining the mechanisms that generate photoreceptor precursors from stem cells, he noted in the release.
The study is published in the Nov. 9 advance online issue of Nature.