The discovery of human-induced pluripotent cells made stem cell therapy for AMD a possibility, and coaxing them to become retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells has been achieved.  But until now it was unclear whether the cells actually functioned in the way RPE cells should.

New research has shown that these stem cells-turned-RPE cells are, in fact, functioning as they should.  For example, they have the proper gene expression profile, ion transport functions and membrane potential that would be expected.  At the same time, there are still some glitches to work out, for example, some chromosomal damage was found and the cells died more quickly than they should have.

So, there is still more work to be done, but the prospects are exciting.

To see the recent press release from Georgetown University Medical Center, click here ^[1].

For the paper abstract, click here ^[2].

Risa Schulman, PhD
Expert, Healthy Food and Dietary Supplement Science, Marketing and Regulatory
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