Differentiation of RPE cells from integration-free iPS cells and their cell biological characterization.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Dysfunction of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is implicated in numerous forms of retinal degeneration. The readily accessible environment of the eye makes it particularly suitable for the transplantation of RPE cells, which can now be derived from autologous induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), to treat retinal degeneration. For RPE transplantation to become feasible in the clinic, patient-specific somatic cells should be reprogrammed to iPSCs without the introduction of reprogramming genes into the genome of the host cell, and then subsequently differentiated into RPE cells that are well characterized for safety and functionality prior to transplantation.

Methods

We have reprogrammed human dermal fibroblasts to iPSCs using nonintegrating RNA, and differe

SUBMITTER: Hazim RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5625837 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature