IUPUI Researchers Study Stem Cells for Potential Glaucoma Treatment

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Scientists from the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) have successfully demonstrated the ability to turn stem cells derived from human skin cells into retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) -- the neurons that conduct visual information from the eye to the brain -- for the potential treatment of glaucoma and other degenerative diseases of the optic nerve.

ImageFor the study, researchers took skin cells biopsied from both volunteers with an inherited form of glaucoma and volunteers without the disease. The cells were first genetically reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells and ultimately directed to become RGCs. Researchers found the new RGCs had features that were different in the cells of those taken from glaucoma patients compared to those taken from people without glaucoma, and the RGCs from glaucoma patient cells became unhealthy and died off at a much faster rate than those from the cells of healthy individuals.

For the future, the research team plans to test different compounds on the glaucoma cell RGCs to see if they can slow down the degeneration process or prevent those cells from dying off. And they also hope to be able to use healthy patient cells to replace cells lost to the disease.

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