Pharmaceuticals containing retinal stem cells

Abstract

The invention relates to stem cells isolated from the retina of mammals and retinal cells differentiated from these stem cells. The invention also relates to a method of isolating retinal stem cells and inducing retinal stem cells to produce retinal cells. Retinal stem cells may also be induced in vivo to produce retinal cells. The invention also includes pharmaceuticals made with retinal stem cells or retinal cells which may be used to restore vision lost due to diseases, disorders or abnormal physical states of the retina. The invention includes retinal stem cell and retinal cell culture systems for toxicological assays, for isolating genes involved in retinal differentiation or for developing tumour cell lines.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09 / 333,248, filed Jun. 15, 1999, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08 / 937,967, filed Sep. 25, 1997, abandoned, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 026,698 filed Sep. 25, 1996, each of which is incorporated by reference herein.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention relates to stem cells isolated from the retina of mammals. The invention includes a method for stimulating proliferation of endogenous retinal stem cells in vivo and pharmaceutical compounds that stimulate proliferation of retinal stem cells. The invention also relates to a method for isolating retinal stem cells, uses for the stem cells and pharmaceutical compositions containing the stem cells or their progeny. The invention can be used to treat individuals having retinal diseases, disorders or abnormal physical states. The invention includes retinal stem cells and retinal cell culture s...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0041] The retinal stem cells may also be used as sources of transplantable tissue, as they can be removed from the donor and transplanted into a recipient either before or after differentiation into retinal cells. This invention also satisfies the needs outlined above in that the retinal stem cells of this invention (1) are accepted by the patient because they can be taken from the patient s own retina, (2) are safe in that the patient is not receiving cells or tissue from another source, (3) are effective in that the retinal stem cells can be differentiated into retinal cells for implantation and survive during and after implantation, and (4) offer the potential to provide long term relief of the symptoms of conditions associated with loss of one or more retinal cell types.

Problems solved by technology

Vision loss may be caused by disease or damage to the retina of the eye.

When normal retinal function is impaired, it may lead to a loss of colour perception, blind spots, reduced peripheral vision, night blindness, photophobia, decreased visual acuity or blindness.

This and other infectious processes can lead to loss of visual field, decreased visual acuity, and blindness.

Uveitis is an inflammation of the eye which can affect the retina and can lead to decreased visual acuity.

Cancers of the retina also impair vision.

Many different genetic diseases lead to retinal damage and blindness.

Patients with RP have normal vision for one or more decades, and then experience progressive loss of vision due to the premature death of rod or cone cells.

Blindness may result.

Physical damage to retinal cells may also occur through retinal detachment which leads to retinal degeneration and blindness.

However, these drugs are immunosuppressants with numerous side effects.

As well, the systemic immunosuppression may have significant negative effects on the development of children as well as on adults in poor health such as the elderly and patients with chronic disease.

Clearly, patients with eye diseases remain vulnerable to sustaining permanent damage to the retinal cells, even if drug treatments are available.

There are no known successful treatments for RP and other retinal dystrophies.

There are also no treatments which regenerate new cells endogenously or which transplant healthy tissue to the retina.

Even if it were possible to develop some form of transplantation, it would be subject to the same problems that accompany transplants in other organ systems.

These include: in many cases, implants provide only temporary relief as the symptoms associated with the disease often return after a number of years, rejection by the patient of foreign tissue, adverse reactions associated with immunosuppression (immunosuppression is needed to try to help the patient accept the foreign tissue), the inability of a sufficient number of cells in the tissue being implanted to survive during and after implantation, transmitting other diseases or disorders may be transmitted to the patient via the implant, and the results may not justify the costs and efforts of a complex procedure.

Thus, there is currently no way to reverse permanent damage to the retina and restore vision.

They also have only limited self-renewal capability.

Current medical and surgical drug treatments are inadequate for restoring vision lost when retinal cells are damaged, so the potential clinical applications of pharmaceutical compounds containing retinal stem cells or to stimulate endogenous proliferation of retinal stem cells are tremendous.

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