Russian scientists have grown the retina of the eye
A view from a test tube
Valeria Nodelman, Izvestia
The Federal Scientific and Clinical Center of Physico-Chemical Medicine has learned how to grow the retina of the eye from reprogrammed cells. The development will allow treating patients who lose their eyesight, for example, due to macular degeneration - a disease that is one of the most common causes of blindness in people over 55 years old.
– There are specialized stem cells for each type of cells, that is, only blood stem cells are suitable for the restoration of blood cells, – said Sergey Kiselyov, head of the Laboratory of Biomedical Technologies of the FNCC FHM. – Only pluripotent stem cells have universality. They can be obtained either from embryos or from skin cells using the reprogramming method. These cells are suitable for growing any type of tissue.
The scientist explained that only allogeneic, that is, unrelated graft is obtained from embryonic cells. However, there are tissues in the human body that the immune system does not extend its influence to. These include the brain and eyes. For such organs, the relatedness of tissues during transplantation is not very important. Although it is assumed that transplants from related or reprogrammed cells will survive better.
Retinal transplantation is currently undergoing clinical trials in the USA and Europe. In Japan, they were temporarily suspended due to changes in legislation, but they will continue in 2017.
The use of reprogrammed, i.e. universal cells suitable for a large number of recipients, will simplify the technology and reduce the cost of surgery. In the FNCC FHM, such drugs have already been grown and tested on rabbits. However, clinical trials are not yet possible: scientists are waiting for the entry into force of the law "On Biomedical Cell Products" (January 1, 2017) and the adoption of regulations on it (the deadline is unknown, because the acts have not yet been developed).
The center already knows who will be the first patients for retinal transplantation. A few years ago, a family with hereditary macular degeneration turned to scientists for help. Unlike age-related macular degeneration, which has been amenable to various types of therapy for some time, there is no cure for genetic macular degeneration. Meanwhile, such patients begin to go blind in 20-30 years.
– For the children of this family, we have prepared retinal cells with an edited genome, – said Sergey Kiselyov. – But, most likely, at the first stage we will start testing with unrelated cells, because it will be easier to get permission for this.
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02.12.2016