Using Trabecular Meshwork Stem Cells to Treat Glaucoma
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. The major risk factor for most glaucoma patients — and the focus of treatment — is increased intraocular pressure (IOP). One factor that correlates with IOP rise is trabecular meshwork (TM) decellularization, which occurs naturally with age. Replacing lost TM cells using stem cells from the same region could restore healthy aqueous outflow and return IOP to normal, thereby slowing glaucoma progression and preserving vision.
Description
Stem cells are abundant throughout the human TM. They can be isolated in vitro using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) or clonal growth and then cultured for several generations without losing multipotency. Once induced to differentiate into TM cells, TM stem cells had a similar gene expression profile to primary TM cells and were phagocytic, like primary TM cells. Finally, when transplanted into the anterior chambers of mice in vivo, TM stem cells automatically moved into the TM region, differentiated, and integrated into the TM tissue, indicating full in vivo functionality. These transplanted cells did not evoke an inflammatory response from the host tissue and remained viable for at least four months. Unlike current treatments for glaucoma involving pharmacological and surgical aqueous humor reduction, our cell-based approach has the potential to actually repair the pathological tissue.Applications
• Cell-based therapy for glaucomaAdvantages
• TM stem cells can retain multipotency in culture which ensures sufficient cell numbers for multiple transplantations from one single donor.• TM cells derived from stem cells function like native TM cells
• Injected TM stem cells localize into TM tissue and function without rejection