Article: A rift in the retina may help repair the optic nerve
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine, via ScienceDaily, EyeNet, and Ophthalmology Times
Published: January 14, 2021
Regenerating the retina and the optic nerve is one of the holy grails in ophthalmology, an endeavor that is still in the nascent phases of study and investigation at this point. The current study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, using mouse retinas in vitro, illustrates an important obstacle to that goal: how to integrate the stem cells (retinal ganglion cells derived from human embryonic stem cells in this case) uniformly. In most cases, the many layers of the retina present a challenge, resulting in clumping of the cells. You can think of them as teeny, tiny tumors. The research team found, however, that areas of their in vitro retina model that were breached by incision showed more uniform integration of the retinal ganglion cells. They hypothesized that the internal limiting membrane (ILM), the innermost layer of the retina composed of footplates of Müller cells, could be the limiting factor. After loosening the ILM with an enzyme and removing it, the researchers found more normal integration of the retinal ganglion cells and establishment of new connections to the rest of the retina. This is one of those studies that seems obvious in hindsight. It makes sense that the ILM would present a barrier. So what was interesting was to see the process unfold of what would happen once the ILM was removed.
My rating of this study: ⭐⭐⭐
Zhang KY, Tuffy C, Mertz JL, et al. "Role of the Internal Limiting Membrane in Structural Engraftment and Topographic Spacing of Transplanted Human Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Ganglion Cells." Stem Cell Reports. 16(1):149-167. 12 January 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2020.12.001
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