Empowering Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Ocular Degenerative Disorders

Abstract

Multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been employed in numerous pre-clinical and clinical settings for various diseases. MSCs have been used in treating degenerative disorders pertaining to the eye, for example, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa, diabetic retinopathy, and optic neuritis. Despite the known therapeutic role and mechanisms of MSCs, low cell precision towards the targeted area and cell survivability at tissue needing repair often resulted in a disparity in therapeutic outcomes. In this review, we will discuss the current and feasible strategy options to enhance treatment outcomes with MSC therapy. We will review the application of various types of biomaterials and advances in nanotechnology, which have been employed on MSCs to augment cellular function and differentiation for improving treatment of visual functions. In addition, several modes of gene delivery into MSCs and the types of associated therapeutic genes that are important for modulation of ocular tissue function and repair will be highlighted.

Photoreceptor Therapy: Generation of Neurosphere-Like Cells from Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Expressing Erythropoietin

“…In our previous study, we have evinced that introduction of EPO could significantly increase the differentiation of MSCs into photoreceptors (Ding et al 2019b). The MSCs were derived from human Wharton's Jelly and characterized by using flow cytometry in prior (Ding et al 2019b).…”

“…In our previous study, we have evinced that introduction of EPO could significantly increase the differentiation of MSCs into photoreceptors (Ding et al 2019b). The MSCs were derived from human Wharton's Jelly and characterized by using flow cytometry in prior (Ding et al 2019b). MSCs population showed high expression for CD90, CD73, CD105, CD29, and HLA-ABC but largely negative for marker of haematopoietic cells including CD34, CD14, CD45, CD80, and CD86 (Ding et al 2019b).…”

“…The MSCs were derived from human Wharton's Jelly and characterized by using flow cytometry in prior (Ding et al 2019b). MSCs population showed high expression for CD90, CD73, CD105, CD29, and HLA-ABC but largely negative for marker of haematopoietic cells including CD34, CD14, CD45, CD80, and CD86 (Ding et al 2019b). Established cultures of MSCs at third passage were culture-expanded for subsequent transduction experiments with lentivirus vector encoding the human EPO and GFP reporter genes.…”

The Rising Role of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in the Treatment of Various Infectious Complications

“…MSCs have immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive properties that enable them to have several therapeutic and clinical applications including: hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), autoimmune disorders, regenerative medicine and tissue repair, neurological diseases, bone and cartilage disorders, as well as treatment of several infections and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Details are shown in Table 3 [1,2,6,8,[25][26][27][28][29]. MSCs are major constituents of the BM microenvironment and the HSC niche and apparently they are the masters of survival and clonality [30][31][32].…”

Introductory Chapter: Update on Mesenchymal and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

“…MSCs have immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive properties that enable them to have several therapeutic and clinical applications, which include the enhancement of engraftment as well as prevention and treatment of graft versus host disease (GVHD) in recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT); treatment of several autoimmune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis, type I diabetes mellitus, and Crohn's disease; role in regenerative medicine and tissue repair including treatment of myocardial ischemia, myocardial infarction, cardiac dysfunction, dilated cardiomyopathy, chronic non-healing wounds, critical limb ischemia, liver injury, spinal cord injuries, as well as macular degeneration, corneal reconstruction, and transplantation; neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; bone and cartilage diseases such as osteogenesis imperfecta; and treatment of various infections and acute respiratory distress syndrome [6,7,11,[25][26][27].…”