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Toward Regeneration of Retinal Function Using Pluripotent Stem Cells

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Nuclear Reprogramming and Stem Cells

Part of the book series: Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine ((STEMCELL))

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Abstract

Embryonic stem (ES) cells have the ability to maintain pluripotency, while during development cells undergo progressive and irreversible differentiation to become specialized adult cell types. Remarkably, in spite of restriction in potential, adult somatic cells can be reprogrammed and returned to the naïve state of pluripotency found in the early embryo simply by forcing expression of a defined set of transcription factors. These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are molecularly and functionally similar to ES cells, and as such, provide powerful in vitro models for development, disease, and drug screening, as well as material for cell replacement therapy. Transplantation of photoreceptors or retinal pigment epithelia derived from human ES cells can restore some visual function, and patient-specific iPS cells may lead to customized cell therapy. In this chapter, we review current progress on retinal regeneration, focusing on the therapeutic potential of pluripotent stem cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank members of the Takahashi laboratory for stimulating discussions. This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid from MEXT and the Leading Project (M.T.) and by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Mochida Memorial Foundation for Medical and Pharmaceutical Research (F.O.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Retinal Regeneration, Center for Developmental Biology, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Japan

    Fumitaka Osakada & Masayo Takahashi

  2. Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Fumitaka Osakada

Authors
  1. Fumitaka Osakada
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  2. Masayo Takahashi
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Correspondence to Fumitaka Osakada .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leeds Institute of Genetics,, Health & Therapeutics, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom

    Justin Ainscough

  2. Inst. Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kawahara-cho 53, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan

    Shinya Yamanaka

  3. Inst. Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kawahara-cho 53, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan

    Takashi Tada

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Osakada, F., Takahashi, M. (2011). Toward Regeneration of Retinal Function Using Pluripotent Stem Cells. In: Ainscough, J., Yamanaka, S., Tada, T. (eds) Nuclear Reprogramming and Stem Cells. Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-225-0_13

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