Category: Research

Bone Marrow Stem Cells May Treat AMD, Stargardt’s & Retinitis Pigmentosa

eye operationFuture treatments for macular degeneration (AMD), Stargardt’s disease, and retinitis pigmentosa may include bone marrow stem cell injections, if a new line of eye research pans out. A preliminary pilot study on six subjects with one of several ischemic eye diseases found that most patients had vision improvement after receiving injections of their own bone marrow.

The purpose of the study was to find out if there were any adverse side effects and to test for vision improvement. The only significant negative side effect was some pain after bone marrow Continue reading “Bone Marrow Stem Cells May Treat AMD, Stargardt’s & Retinitis Pigmentosa”

Optogenetics Reverse the Decay of Retina Cells to Restore Sight

blind Scientists have partially restored sight in blind mice using a protein to repair damaged cells in the retina. These experiments may ultimately lead to treatments that restore sight in patients with progressive degenerative retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration.

The research at the University of Bern in Switzerland and the University of Göttingen in Germany used “optogenetics,” which involves utilizing light to control neurons. They introduced new light-sensing proteins called Opto-mGluR6 into the eye. In essence, this turned the old cells into photoreceptors. These cells were then able to process Continue reading “Optogenetics Reverse the Decay of Retina Cells to Restore Sight”

New Method for Creating Stem Cells

lab-stem-cells-200A new method has been studied for turning cells into multipurpose stem cells. The technique, which exposes cells to a mild acid bath, may present a more efficient source of stem cells than those currently in use. While this method was only performed in a study with mice, the hope is it can be reproduced with human cells in the future.

The new method was tested by researchers in Kobe, Japan and in Boston. To achieve pluripotency, Continue reading “New Method for Creating Stem Cells”

Fighting Blindness with Gene Therapy, Stem Cells, Bionics

scientist beaker 200Many advances in technology that could improve the lives of blind people are on the horizon. Solutions that were thought impossible not long ago are now becoming a reality for many patients suffering from retinal diseases. Treatments such as gene therapy, stem cells, and bionic retinas have shown that vision loss can in fact be reversible.

Common degenerative diseases of the retina, like age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), affect tens of millions of people worldwide, but blindness resulting from these conditions had previously been considered irreversible. Continue reading “Fighting Blindness with Gene Therapy, Stem Cells, Bionics”

Eye Protein Road Map for AMD

eye cutaway 200A cutting-edge project has produced a vast “road map” for proteins in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and choroid of the eye. The project, conducted by recent grantees of a BrightFocus grant, mapped the locations and quantities of 4,403 different eye proteins. This research could be invaluable to further understanding of conditions such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).  Continue reading “Eye Protein Road Map for AMD”

A Cure for Blindness in the Eyes of the Dead

eyeDonated eyes from the dead may be the key to giving sight back to the living. Researchers have found that cells from the back of the eye may be taken from donated eyes and used to repair the eyes of the blind. Human cells have successfully been used to restore some sight to blind mice, with human trials set to begin in the next three years.

The special type of cells extracted from the back of the eye are called Continue reading “A Cure for Blindness in the Eyes of the Dead”

Nerve Cells Adapt to Changing Images

Study could lead to new therapies to help improve sight following trauma or stroke

nerve cellsUniversity of Texas neuroscientists having been looking at how nerve cells in the visual cortex of the brain handle and adapt to images as they change.

Researchers evaluated the results of stimulating the visual cortex upon optic neurons whose electrical activity was measured at the same time in lab animals.  With the animal viewing movies they monitored the behavior of visual cortex neurons as the images changed.

Results showed that short exposure or adaptation to a fixed visual stimulus caused changes in how much  individual neurons cooperated with each other and in so doing improved the efficiency of the cells to encode information for interpretation by the brain.

The authors of the study wrote that how we see our environment depends upon the ability of the neural networks of our brain and body to adapt very quickly to changes in what we perceive.  Scientists are increasingly realizing that how our neural networks are structured and how they communicate is itself an adaptive process – our nerve cells change how they respond appropriately depending on what is in our sensory environment – converting ” electrical impulses in the brain into thoughts, memories and decisions”.

Source:  “Populations Of Brain Cells Adapt To Changing Images,” Dragoi, et al., Nature 452, 220-224 (13 March 2008).

Nanotechnology Could Bring Sight Back to Macular Degeneration Patients

person using microscopeFlowers could help people who have lost their vision to conditions like macular degeneration to see again.

A researcher named Richard Taylor out of the University of Oregon is experimenting with the cultivation of nanoflowers which grow from nano-sized particles of metal that will assemble themselves in a natural process called diffusion limited aggregation.  These particles will form fractals that can be implanted into the eye and actually communicate with the neurons in the eye and essentially repair the body’s damaged circuitry.

According to an article published in Physics World, Taylor is capitalizing on the remarkable similarities he finds between the eye and a digital camera.

Source: Medical News Today

Human Embryonic Cells Used to Create a Retina

Scientists have created an early stage retina from human embryonic stem cells to potentially treat retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration.

Scientists at UC Irvine have created an early stage retina from human embryonic stem cells.  It is the first three-dimensional tissue structure to be made from stem cells and bring us closer to the development of transplant-ready retinas to treat eye disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration that affect millions.  Researchers managed to employ a technique that allowed them to create the multiple cell types necessary for the retina.

Source: Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 4-24-10.