Possibilities for Using Pluripotent Stem Cells for Restoring Damaged Eye Retinal Pigment Epithelium.

ABSTRACT: The retinal pigment epithelium is a monolayer of pigmented, hexagonal cells connected by tight junctions. These cells compose part of the outer blood-retina barrier, protect the eye from excessive light, have important secretory functions, and support the function of photoreceptors, ensuring the coordination of a variety of regulatory mechanisms. It is the degeneration of the pigment epithelium that is the root cause of many retinal degenerative diseases. The search for reliable cell sources for the transplantation of retinal pigment epithelium is of extreme urgency. Pluripotent stem cells (embryonic stem or induced pluripotent) can be differentiated with high efficiency into the pigment epithelium of the retina, which opens up possibilities for cellular therapy in macular degeneration and

SUBMITTER: Kharitonov AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6209409 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul-Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature