Progress of retinal organoids in treatment of retinal degenerative diseases

• Main Authors: Hui-Yu Xi, Xi-Ying Mao, Jie Sun, Song-Tao Yuan, Qing-Huai Liu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Press of International Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO PRESS) 2019-05-01
• Series: Guoji Yanke Zazhi
• Subjects: retinal organoids; photoreceptors; transplantation; retinal degenerative diseases
• Online Access: http://ies.ijo.cn/cn_publish/2019/5/201905014.pdf

Retinal degeneration is the primary cause of visual impairment and blindness. However, in advanced stage of the disease, the majority or all photoreceptors are lost, effective therapeutics has not been established. In recent years, a large number of studies have provided new ways for the replacement of photoreceptors and three-dimensional retinal culture has emerged to produce retinal photoreceptors and tissues of both fetal mouse and human, providing the cell source of photoreceptors replacement therapy for treating retinal degenerative diseases. This review focuses on the development of three-dimensional retinal culture techniques and photoreceptors transplantation experiments, and the existing application strategies and limitations of retinal organoids in the replacement therapy of retinal degeneration, which provide a theoretical reference for the optimization of 3D retina in photoreceptors replacement therapy.