Advantages of Stem Cell-based Therapy for Ocular Diseases

Stem cells are a specialized type of cell that renew body tissues and activate regeneration processes in response to injury. They divide and differentiate into specialized cells that determine the functional characteristics of each organ and tissue. The ophthalmic branch of medical science was the first to directly benefit from stem cells for regenerative treatments. While conventional surgery and eye medications can slow eye disease progression, stem cell-based therapy has the potential to regenerate damaged retinal structures. It enhances endogenous retinal regeneration via retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and Müller glial cells, as well as cell replacement therapy via embryonic stem cells (ESCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and retinal progenitor cells (RPCs). The eye is a major target for stem cell transplantation due to the burden of ocular disease and its relative accessibility, with complications often rare (eg, overgrowth and tumor formation). In addition, researchers can non-invasively and quantitatively visualize most eye structures, and can routinely assess visual function quickly, quantitatively, and accurately.

Fig. 1. Graphical abstract of of stem cell therapy for retinal degeneration. (Sharma A, et al., 2021)

What Is Ace Therapeutics Doing?

There is no approved method of using stem cells to treat eye diseases in the world. As one of the global leaders in ophthalmology, Ace Therapeutics can work with you to explore new treatments for ocular diseases. Our stem cell-based therapy development for ocular diseases covers glaucoma and degenerative eye diseases.

At Ace Therapeutics, you can work with our talented scientists to develop pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) based cell therapy for ophthalmic diseases. Our high-quality expert team is working to explore various sources of human stem cells for eye disease transplantation. To develop universal stem cell therapies, Ace Therapeutics combines knockout and knockin gene technologies to generate cell lines with low immunogenicity.

What Does Ace Therapeutics Offer?

Access to pathologically relevant models of human optic nerve or retinal degeneration is critical for understanding, screening, and developing accurate cell therapy strategies. This is to prevent or slow the progression of these blinding diseases. Ace Therapeutics offers dozens of relevant ocular disease models for cell therapy development, including but not limited to.

• Normaltension/Glaucoma (Rat, Rabbit, Dog)
• Corneal Transplant (Rabbit)
• Retinal Optic Nerve Injury Models (Rabbit, Rat).
• Diabetic Retinopathy Model (Rat)
• Wet and Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (Rat)

Explore Ace Therapeutics' Capabilities

• Development of Stem Cell-based Therapy for Glaucoma

The only standard treatment for glaucoma is lowering intraocular pressure. This slows the progression of glaucomatous optic nerve damage but does not completely stop it and certainly does not regenerate damaged nerve tissue. Stem cells can be transformed into trabecular meshwork cells at the front of the eye and transplanted in a way that lowers intraocular pressure. Our talented scientists are investigating the transplantation of retinal ganglion cells into the retina in preclinical animal models to assess their integration into the adult retina.

• Development of Stem Cell-based Therapy for Degenerative Eye Disease

The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is implicated in retinal degenerative diseases. Cell-based therapies can be applied through a variety of technologies to diseases involving RPE, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Stargardt's macular dystrophy (SMD), and retinitis pigmentosa. Our highly qualified scientists have improved visual function in rat retino degeneration models by studying MSCs transplanted into the vitreous of RP animal models, etc.

Available Fields of Study

• Glaucoma
• Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
• Diabetic Retinal Degeneration
• Corneal Disease
• Optic Nerve Inflammation
• Corneal Stem Cell Deficiency
• Retinitis Pigmentosa
• Ischemic Retinopathy

Thanks to the strong expertise of our highly qualified researchers in glaucoma and degenerative eye diseases, Ace Therapeutics provides high-quality stem cell-based therapy development services to customers around the world. In addition, we also provide a variety of preclinical animal models to meet your stem cell-based therapy development needs.If you are interested in our services or need more detailed information, please feel free to contact us. Our experienced scientists are ready to help you!

References

1. Sharma A, Jaganathan BG. Stem Cell Therapy for Retinal Degeneration: The Evidence to Date. Biologics. 2021;15:299-306.
2. Mead B, Berry M, Logan A, et al. Stem cell treatment of degenerative eye disease. Stem Cell Res. 2015;14(3):243-57.
3. Adak S, Magdalene D, Deshmukh S, et al. A Review on Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Treatment of Retinal Diseases. Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2021;17(4):1154-1173.
4. Sivan PP, Syed S, Mok PL, et al. Stem Cell Therapy for Treatment of Ocular Disorders. Stem Cells Int. 2016;2016:8304879.

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