Stem Cell Sources and Their Potential for the Treatment of Retinal Degenerations

Valeria Canto-Soler, Miguel Flores-Bellver, M Natalia Vergara, Valeria Canto-Soler, Miguel Flores-Bellver, M Natalia Vergara

Abstract

Stem cells offer unprecedented opportunities for the development of strategies geared toward the treatment of retinal degenerative diseases. A variety of cellular sources have been investigated for various potential clinical applications, including tissue regeneration, disease modeling, and screening for non-cell-based therapeutic agents. As the field transitions from more than a decade of preclinical research to the first phase I/II clinical trials, we provide a concise overview of the stem cell sources most commonly used, weighing their therapeutic potential on the basis of their technical strengths/limitations, their ethical implications, and the extent of the progress achieved to date. This article serves as a framework for further in-depth analyses presented in the following chapters of this Special Issue.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Potential of different stem cell sources for therapeutic applications. Colored circles represent the stem cell–based strategies most commonly explored for the development of therapeutic treatments for retinal degenerative diseases.

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