Stem Cells in the Retina

描述（由申请人提供）：干细胞治疗的前景已经 在过去的几年里被广泛宣传。骨髓移植是 干细胞替代疗法的第一个实际应用;然而， 从其他组织中分离出干细胞的可能性已经产生， 类似的治疗方法在其他领域也有潜力， 药虽然干细胞移植的实际应用， 我们最近发现，治疗神经系统疾病还有很长的路要走。 鸡的眼睛在睫状缘有一个祖细胞区 这让人想起了长期以来被公认的冷血动物的干细胞区， 脊椎动物此外，我们还发现， 猴子的视网膜含有细胞，这些细胞有可能产生一些视网膜色素， 细胞类型。我们刚刚开始研究视网膜边缘细胞的特征 在鸟类和灵长类动物中，我们提出了一些实验， 我们来确定这些细胞与它们在较低水平上的对应物有多相似。 脊椎动物干细胞可以从成年人身上分离出来的可能性 灵长类眼睛可能会导致新的方法来治疗各种各样的眼睛， 导致失明的疾病，如黄斑变性和青光眼。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The promise of stem cell therapy has been widely publicized in the past few years. Bone marrow transplantation has been the first practical use of stem cell replacement therapy; however, the possibility that stem cells can be isolated from other tissues has generated enthusiasm that similar treatments could have potential in other areas of medicine. While the practical application of stem cell transplantation for treating nervous system disorders is a long way off, we have recently found that the chicken eye has a zone of progenitor cells at the ciliary margin highly reminiscent of the long recognized stem cell zone of cold-blooded vertebrates. In addition, we have also found that the margin of the adult monkey retina contains cells that have the potential to generate some retinal cell types. We have just begun to characterize the cells of the retinal margin in birds and primates, and we propose a number of experiments that will enable us to determine how similar these cells are to their counterparts in lower vertebrates. The possibility that stem cells could be isolated from the adult primate eye might lead to novel approaches to treating a wide variety of eye, diseases that lead to blindness, such as macular degeneration and glaucoma.