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Sight for sore eyes
June 10, 2009Therapeutic contact lenses and patients' own stem cells used to rehabilitate damaged eye surfaces
In a world-first breakthrough, University of New South Wales (UNSW) medical researchers have used stem cells cultured on a simple contact lens to restore sight to sufferers of blinding corneal disease.
Sight was significantly improved within weeks of the procedure, which is simple, inexpensive and requires a minimal hospital stay.
The research team from UNSW's School of Medical Sciences harvested stem cells from patients' own eyes to rehabilitate the damaged cornea. The stem cells were cultured on a common therapeutic contact lens which was then placed onto the damaged cornea for 10 days, during which the cells were able to re-colonise the damaged eye surface.
While the novel procedure was used to rehabilitate damaged corneas, the researchers say it offers hope to people with a range of blinding eye conditions and could have applications in other organs.
A paper detailing the breakthrough appears in the high-impact journal Transplantation this week.
The trial was conducted on three patients; two with extensive corneal damage resulting from multiple surgeries to remove ocular melanomas, and one with the genetic eye condition aniridia. Other causes of cornea damage can include chemical or thermal burns, bacterial infection and chemotherapy.
"The procedure is totally simple and cheap," said lead author of the study, UNSW's Dr Nick Di Girolamo. "Unlike other techniques, it requires no foreign human or animal products, only the patient's own serum, and is completely non-invasive.
"There's no suturing, there is no major operation: all that's involved is harvesting a minute amount - less than a millimeter - of tissue from the ocular surface," Dr Di Girolamo said.
"If you're going to be treating these sorts of diseases in third world countries all you need is the surgeon and a lab for cell culture. You don't need any fancy equipment."
Because the procedure uses the patient's own stem cells harvested from their eye, it is ideal for sufferers of unilateral eye disease. However, it also works in patients who have had both eyes damaged, Dr Di Girolamo said.
"One of our patients had aniridia, a congenital condition affecting both eyes. In that case, instead of taking the stem cells from the other cornea, we took them from another part of the eye altogether - the conjunctiva - which also harbours stem cells.
"The stem cells were able to change from the conjunctival phenotype to a corneal phenotype after we put them onto the cornea. That's the beauty of stem cells," Dr Di Girolamo said.
The therapeutic contact lens used in the trial was of a type commonly used worldwide after ocular surface surgery. However, of the several brands on the market, only one was suitable for growing the stem cells.
"We don't know why. It's probably to do with the components the manufacturers have used in that particular lens," Dr Di Girolamo said.
The researchers are hopeful the technique can be adapted for use in other parts of the eye, such as the retina, and even in other organs. "If we can do this procedure in the eye, I don't see why it wouldn't work in other major organs such as the skin, which behaves in a very similar way to the cornea," Dr Di Girolamo said.
University of New South Wales
The research team from UNSW's School of Medical Sciences harvested stem cells from patients' own eyes to rehabilitate the damaged cornea. The stem cells were cultured on a common therapeutic contact lens which was then placed onto the damaged cornea for 10 days, during which the cells were able to re-colonise the damaged eye surface.
While the novel procedure was used to rehabilitate damaged corneas, the researchers say it offers hope to people with a range of blinding eye conditions and could have applications in other organs.
A paper detailing the breakthrough appears in the high-impact journal Transplantation this week.
The trial was conducted on three patients; two with extensive corneal damage resulting from multiple surgeries to remove ocular melanomas, and one with the genetic eye condition aniridia. Other causes of cornea damage can include chemical or thermal burns, bacterial infection and chemotherapy.
"The procedure is totally simple and cheap," said lead author of the study, UNSW's Dr Nick Di Girolamo. "Unlike other techniques, it requires no foreign human or animal products, only the patient's own serum, and is completely non-invasive.
"There's no suturing, there is no major operation: all that's involved is harvesting a minute amount - less than a millimeter - of tissue from the ocular surface," Dr Di Girolamo said.
"If you're going to be treating these sorts of diseases in third world countries all you need is the surgeon and a lab for cell culture. You don't need any fancy equipment."
Because the procedure uses the patient's own stem cells harvested from their eye, it is ideal for sufferers of unilateral eye disease. However, it also works in patients who have had both eyes damaged, Dr Di Girolamo said.
"One of our patients had aniridia, a congenital condition affecting both eyes. In that case, instead of taking the stem cells from the other cornea, we took them from another part of the eye altogether - the conjunctiva - which also harbours stem cells.
"The stem cells were able to change from the conjunctival phenotype to a corneal phenotype after we put them onto the cornea. That's the beauty of stem cells," Dr Di Girolamo said.
The therapeutic contact lens used in the trial was of a type commonly used worldwide after ocular surface surgery. However, of the several brands on the market, only one was suitable for growing the stem cells.
"We don't know why. It's probably to do with the components the manufacturers have used in that particular lens," Dr Di Girolamo said.
The researchers are hopeful the technique can be adapted for use in other parts of the eye, such as the retina, and even in other organs. "If we can do this procedure in the eye, I don't see why it wouldn't work in other major organs such as the skin, which behaves in a very similar way to the cornea," Dr Di Girolamo said.
University of New South Wales
Stem Cells Current Events and Stem Cells News RSSOf mice and men: Stem cells and ethical uncertainties
The recent creation of live mice from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) not only represents a remarkable scientific achievement, but also raises important issues, according to bioethicists at The Johns Hopkins University's Berman Institute of Bioethics.
NIH-funded researchers transform embryonic stem cells into human germ cells
Researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health have discovered how to transform human embryonic stem cells into germ cells, the embryonic cells that ultimately give rise to sperm and eggs.
Stem cell therapy may offer hope for acute lung injury
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have shown that adult stem cells from bone marrow can prevent acute lung injury in a mouse model of the disease.
Placental precursor stem cells require testosterone-free environment to survive
Trophoblast stem cells (TSCs), cells found in the layer of peripheral embryonic stem cells from which the placenta is formed, are thought to exhibit "immune privilege" that aids cell survivability and is potentially beneficial for cell and gene therapies.
Endocrine Society calls for expanded scope and funding for stem cell research
Stem cell research holds great promise for the treatment of millions of Americans with debilitating and possibly fatal diseases.
Experimental treatments restore partial vision to blind people
Two experimental treatments, a retinal prosthesis and fetal tissue transplant, restored some vision to people with blinding eye diseases. The findings, presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health, may lead to new treatments for the blind.
Scientists demonstrate link between genetic defect and brain changes in schizophrenia
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have found that the 22q11 gene deletion - a mutation that confers the highest known genetic risk for schizophrenia - is associated with changes in the development of the brain that ultimately affect how its circuit elements are assembled.
Small mechanical forces have big impact on embryonic stem cells
Applying a small mechanical force to embryonic stem cells could be a new way of coaxing them into a specific direction of differentiation, researchers at the University of Illinois report. Applications for force-directed cell differentiation include therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine.
Fate Therapeutics announces creation of small molecule platform for commercial-scale reprogramming
Fate Therapeutics, Inc. announced today the generation of human induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) using a combination of small molecules that significantly improves the speed and efficiency of reprogramming.
A major step in making better stem cells from adult tissue
October 15, 2009 A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has developed a method that dramatically improves the efficiency of creating stem cells from human adult tissue, without the use of embryonic cells.
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