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Surgical Approaches for Cell Transplantation in Cell Replacement Therapy

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Cellular Therapies for Retinal Disease

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Abstract

Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) transplantation holds great promise as a viable treatment option for neurodegenerative diseases. Transplantation of hESCs can replace dysfunctional cells or provide trophic factors to sustain degenerating cells. Ocular conditions, particularly retinal degenerative disorders, are especially suited to hESC transplantation due to ease of accessibility and lack of immunogenicity in the subretinal space. Recently, embryonic stem cell transplantation of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) has been utilized in degenerative retinal conditions such as age-related macular degeneration and Stargardt’s disease, with promising results. This chapter will summarize important surgical approaches to hESC-RPE transplantation for age-related macular degeneration and Stargardt’s disease, as well discuss the future directions of cell therapy in degenerative retinal disease.

The authors have no financial interest on the devices or medications in this document. The authors have no conflict of interest.

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Abbreviations

ABCA4:

ATP-binding cassette transporter

AREDS:

Age-Related Eye Disease Study

hESC:

Human embryonic stem cells

hESC-RPE:

Human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium

iPSC:

Induced pluripotent stem cell

NIH:

National Institute of Health

RCS:

Royal College of Surgeons

RPE:

Retinal pigment epithelium

VEGF:

Vascular endothelial growth factor

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wills Eye Hospital, 840 Walnut Street, Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    Priya Sharma M.D.

  2. Midatlantic Retina of Wills Eye Hospital, 840 Walnut Street, Suite 1020, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    Jayanth Sridhar M.D. & Carl D. Regillo M.D.

Authors
  1. Priya Sharma M.D.
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  2. Jayanth Sridhar M.D.
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  3. Carl D. Regillo M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carl D. Regillo M.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Retina Division Chief; Department of Ophthalmology; Ahmanson Professor of Ophthalmology, Stein Eye Institute; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Steven D. Schwartz

  2. Retina Division; Department of Ophthalmology, Stein Eye Institute; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Aaron Nagiel

  3. Head of Astellas Global Regenerative Medicine, Chief Scientific Officer at the Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA

    Robert Lanza

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Sharma, P., Sridhar, J., Regillo, C.D. (2017). Surgical Approaches for Cell Transplantation in Cell Replacement Therapy. In: Schwartz, S., Nagiel, A., Lanza, R. (eds) Cellular Therapies for Retinal Disease. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49479-1_5

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