Stem Cells in the Retina

描述(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。骨髓移植已经被 干细胞替代疗法的第一次实际应用；然而， 干细胞可以从其他组织中分离的可能性已经产生 热情认为类似的治疗方法可能在其他领域具有潜力 医药。而干细胞移植在临床上的实际应用 我们最近发现，治疗神经系统疾病还有很长的路要走 鸡眼在睫状缘有一个祖细胞区域 令人回想起长期以来公认的冷血动物干细胞区 脊椎动物。此外，我们还发现，成虫的边缘 猴视网膜包含有可能产生一些视网膜的细胞 单元类型。我们刚刚开始描述视网膜边缘的细胞 在鸟类和灵长类动物身上，我们提出了一些实验，将使 US以确定这些细胞与Low的对应细胞有多相似 脊椎动物。从成人体内分离干细胞的可能性 灵长类动物的眼睛可能会导致治疗各种眼睛的新方法， 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.