Autologous Induced Stem-Cell–Derived Retinal Cells for Macular Degeneration

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 376; no. 11; pp. 1038 - 1046
• Main Authors: Mandai, Michiko, Watanabe, Akira, Kurimoto, Yasuo, Hirami, Yasuhiko, Morinaga, Chikako, Daimon, Takashi, Fujihara, Masashi, Akimaru, Hiroshi, Sakai, Noriko, Shibata, Yumiko, Terada, Motoki, Nomiya, Yui, Tanishima, Shigeki, Nakamura, Masahiro, Kamao, Hiroyuki, Sugita, Sunao, Onishi, Akishi, Ito, Tomoko, Fujita, Kanako, Kawamata, Shin, Go, Masahiro J, Shinohara, Chikara, Hata, Ken-ichiro, Sawada, Masanori, Yamamoto, Midori, Ohta, Sachiko, Ohara, Yasuo, Yoshida, Kenichi, Kuwahara, Junko, Kitano, Yuko, Amano, Naoki, Umekage, Masafumi, Kitaoka, Fumiyo, Tanaka, Azusa, Okada, Chihiro, Takasu, Naoko, Ogawa, Seishi, Yamanaka, Shinya, Takahashi, Masayo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 16.03.2017
• Series: Brief Report
• Subjects: Acuity; Age; Aged; Autografts; Biomedical research; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell Differentiation; Clinical trials; Developmental biology; Edema; Feasibility Studies; Female; Fibroblasts; Genomes; Grants; Hospitals; Humans; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells - cytology; Macular degeneration; Macular Degeneration - therapy; Male; Photoreceptors; Pluripotency; R&D; Regenerative medicine; Research & development; Retina; Retinal Pigment Epithelium - cytology; Retinal Pigment Epithelium - transplantation; Skin; Stem cells; Surgery; Transplantation; Transplantation, Autologous; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Japan
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1608368

A goal of regenerative medicine is to use induced pluripotent stem cells to generate an autologous graft for transplantation. This study tests the feasibility of the approach to treat age-related macular degeneration. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the most prevalent retinal diseases that threaten vision in older populations in developed countries. 1 – 4 Neovascular (also called “wet”) AMD is more prevalent than atrophic (or “dry”) AMD in Japan 5 and is associated with the ectopic development of a choroidal neovascular membrane in the subretinal space of the center of the retina (the macula). Physical disruption and functional impairment of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a monolayer sheet of cells that supports the overlying photoreceptors and underlying choroidal vasculature, occur in the course of wet AMD. 6 Current treatments of AMD that involve the . . .