Phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments by transplanted human neural stem cells as a neuroprotective mechanism in retinal degeneration

• Published in: Investigative ophthalmology & visual science Vol. 54; no. 10; pp. 6745 - 6756
• Main Authors: Cuenca, Nicolás, Fernández-Sánchez, Laura, McGill, Trevor J, Lu, Bin, Wang, Shaomei, Lund, Raymond, Huhn, Stephen, Capela, Alexandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 15.10.2013
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Cells, Cultured; Disease Models, Animal; Humans; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Neural Stem Cells - transplantation; Neural Stem Cells - ultrastructure; Phagocytosis - physiology; Rats; Retinal Degeneration - pathology; Retinal Degeneration - surgery; Retinal Photoreceptor Cell Outer Segment - physiology; Retinal Photoreceptor Cell Outer Segment - ultrastructure; Stem Cell Transplantation - methods; phagocytosis; electron microscopy; transplant; retinal degeneration; therapy; synaptic contacts

Transplantation of human central nervous system stem cells (HuCNS-SC) into the subretinal space of Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats preserves photoreceptors and visual function. To explore possible mechanism(s) of action underlying this neuroprotective effect, we performed a detailed morphologic...