Researchers develop hESC-derived RPE cell sheet
In a paper published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers from Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) and colleagues developed a technique to grow human stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells as sheets on a human amniotic membrane. The authors suggest that the method could offer advantages over current techniques that deliver stem cell-derived RPE cells in suspension by increasing cell survival.
In a rat model of inherited retinal degeneration, subretinal transplantation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived RPE cell sheets increased visual acuity and light responsiveness, photoreceptor cell survival and outer nuclear layer thickness of the eye compared with sham treatment or hESC-derived RPE cells given in a suspension...