Progress in retinal stem cells research

Abstract

Retina is subjected to many acquired and inherited neuronal degenerative diseases such as agerelated macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). All of these diseases are associated with the progressive damage and loss of photoreceptors, which is causing visual impairment and irreversible blindness. Stem-cell therapy is being widely considered as a promising treatment of these incurable retina diseases. However, in mammals including humans, there seems to be little or no recovery of lost cells. By contrast, nonmammalian vertebrates, such as amphibians and fish, have robust regenerative responses to injury, which can lead to the near complete restoration of the neurons lost through injury. Nevertheless ,over the past several years, studies have investigated that stem cells do exist in the adult mammalian eyes, and at least some types of neurons can be regenerated in the mammalian retina by stimulating with growth factors or transcription factors. These recent results suggest that some part of the regenerative program occurring in lower vertebrates remains in the mammalian retina.Here, the origin of various of adult retinal stem cells for the self-renewal and proliferation. and the relevant influencing factors were summarized. Key words: Retina; Stem cells ; Muller cells; Mesenchymal stem cells; Induced pluripotent stem cells