多能干细胞分化来源视网膜色素上皮细胞移植治疗视网膜变性研究进展

视网膜色素上皮（RPE）对视觉功能的维持起着至关重要的作用。视网膜变性是全球不可治愈性致盲疾病的重要原因,它由视网膜色素上皮功能失常所引起。因此,视网膜色素上皮移植是视网膜变性患者恢复视力的一种最有前景的手段之一。随着干细胞技术的快速发展,从多能干细胞（PSC）到有功能的视网膜色素上皮细胞的体外分化诱导技术已经成熟,其中包括胚胎干细胞（ESCs）和诱导多能干细胞（iPSCs）等。此外,从患者特异性iPSCs分化而来的RPE更能用于阐明发病机理并有针对性地个体治疗。更值得一提的是,经诱导得到RPE的移植不论在动物模型中,还是在临床试验里都已经得到了可喜的治疗效果。本文回顾PSC来源RPE干预治疗视网膜变性的最新研究进展。

The research progress toward clinical transplantation of pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal pigmented epithelial cells

Retinal pigmented epithelial（RPE） cell is essential to maintain retinal function. RPE loss or dysfunction is the leading cause of incurable blindness worldwide. RPE cell replacement has been one of the most promising approaches to restore vision for these patients. With rapid progress of stem cell biology, great efforts have been made to induce functional RPE cells from pluripotent stem cells（PSCs）, including embryonic stem cells（ESCs） and induced pluripotent stem cells（iPSCs）. Disease-specific RPE cells differentiated from patient iPS cells are greatly expected to elucidate mechanism of pathogenesis and personalized therapies for retinal degenerative diseases. Additionally, transplantation of induced RPE into subretinal space has shown encouraging remedies in both animal models and clinical trials. In this review, we focus on PSC-derived RPE in field of regenerative medicine and to summarize methods for RPE cell production and delivering.