UNMC: Stem cell breakthrough builds hope for the blind

Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center on Tuesday announced a significant step in adult stem cell research that could take science closer to cures for glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.

A team led by Iqbal Ahmad, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, used adult stem cells from the cornea, the clear window at the front of the eye, and reprogrammed them to act like cells in a developing babys retina.

The retina, located at the back of the eye, transforms light into neural signals thatcan be interpreted by the brain, an essential part of vision.

Ahmad said the teams work built off that of Drs. John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka, who won this years Nobel Prize in science after they genetically altered adult stem cells to mimic embryonic stem cells.

Before the pair's discovery, scientists believed embryonic cells, which have far greater potential to develop into different types of cells, could come only from embryos.

In that early breakthrough, researchers directly manipulated gene expression inside cells to cause them to reset themselves to a more primitive state.

The real advance of Ahmads team came in causing adult stem cells to change by placing them in a chemical environment similar to what might be encountered inside the eye of a developing fetus.

The team next took the reprogrammed cells and transferred them into a mice model of glaucoma, where they survived and integrated just like actual retinal ganglion cells-- the interface between cells that react to light and nerve cells.

The experiments took place in a dish, but the reprogrammed cells did hook up as desired, Ahmad said.

They have the potential to restore the circuitry.

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UNMC: Stem cell breakthrough builds hope for the blind