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Transplantation of iPSC-derived TM cells rescues glaucoma phenotypes in vivo
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Transplantation of iPSC-derived TM cells rescues glaucoma phenotypes in vivo

Wei Zhu, Oliver W Gramlich, Lauren Laboissonniere, Ankur Jain, Val C Sheffield, Jeffrey M Trimarchi, Budd A Tucker and Markus H Kuehn
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.113(25), pp.E3492-E3500
06/21/2016
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1604153113
PMCID: PMC4922164
PMID: 27274060
url
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1604153113View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Glaucoma is a common cause of vision loss or blindness and reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) has been proven beneficial in a large fraction of glaucoma patients. The IOP is maintained by the trabecular meshwork (TM) and the elevation of IOP in open-angle glaucoma is associated with dysfunction and loss of the postmitotic cells residing within this tissue. To determine if IOP control can be maintained by replacing lost TM cells, we transplanted TM-like cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells into the anterior chamber of a transgenic mouse model of glaucoma. Transplantation led to significantly reduced IOP and improved aqueous humor outflow facility, which was sustained for at least 9 wk. The ability to maintain normal IOP engendered survival of retinal ganglion cells, whose loss is ultimately the cause for reduced vision in glaucoma. In vivo and in vitro analyses demonstrated higher TM cellularity in treated mice compared with littermate controls and indicated that this increase is primarily because of a proliferative response of endogenous TM cells. Thus, our study provides in vivo demonstration that regeneration of the glaucomatous TM is possible and points toward novel approaches in the treatment of this disease.
Mutation Glycoproteins - genetics Trabecular Meshwork - pathology Cytoskeletal Proteins - genetics Intraocular Pressure Humans Mice, Transgenic Stem Cell Transplantation Animals Glaucoma - therapy Glaucoma - pathology Mice Eye Proteins - genetics Glaucoma - physiopathology Disease Models, Animal

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