NIH researchers report animal model validation for stem cell-based approach to advanced dry AMD
A group of NIH researchers say they have laid the groundwork needed to tackle the root cause of an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration by reprogramming adult blood cells into retinal cells in rat and pig models. And now they plan to move that into an historic breakthrough effort in humans.
The scientists from the NIH’s National Eye Institute set out to prevent blindness in geographic atrophy, or advanced dry AMD. Retinal pigment epithelial cells nurture photoreceptors; when they die (usually in the early stage of geographic atrophy) the photoreceptors lose protection and eventually die as well, ultimately resulting in blindness. With the results and protocols detailed in a Science Translational Medicine paper today, they are hoping to set the stage for a first-in-human study.
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