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Eye rich source of
flexible adult stem cells
Tuesday January 10, 2012 08:17:58 AM,
IANS
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Washington: Patients
need not look any further than their own eyes to obtain perfectly
matched neural (nerve) stem cells, say scientists.
Researchers have identified adult stem cells of the central
nervous system in a single layer of cells at the back of the eye.
That layer, known as the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE),
underlies and supports photoreceptors in the light-sensitive
retina. Without it, photoreceptors and vision are lost.
These cells are also multi-potent, which means that they can form
different cell types, though the researchers admit there is more
to do to fully explore the cells' differentiation capacity, the
journal Cell Stem Cell reported, citing a statement from the New
York-based Rensselaer Institute's Neural Stem Cell Institute.
The new study shows that the RPE also harbours self-renewing stem
cells that can wake up to produce actively growing cultures when
placed under the right conditions. They can also be coaxed into
forming other cell types.
"You can get these cells from a 99-year-old," said Sally Temple of
the institute.
"These cells are laid down in the embryo and can remain dormant
for 100 years. Yet you can pull them out and put them in culture
and they begin dividing. It is kind of mind- boggling," she added.
Temple's group got the RPE-derived stem cells they describe from
the eyes of donors in the hours immediately after their deaths.
But the cells can also be isolated from the fluid that surrounds
the retina at the back of the eye, which means they are accessible
in living people as well.
"You can literally go in and poke a needle in the eye and get
these cells from the sub-retinal space," Temple says. "It sounds
awful, but retinal surgeons do it every day."
By comparison, access to most other neural stem cell populations
would require major surgery.
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