Successful transplantation of retinal cells from iPS in monkeys

The team of the Japan Center for Reproductive Research successfully implanted retinal cells made up of iPS cells in monkeys.

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As a result of monkeys, animals with close relatives, Japanese researchers have moved closer to the world's first clinical application of iPS cells.

The results of the study are expected to be announced at the Japan Reproductive Medicine Conference in Tokyo next March.

Head of the Kyoto University research team led by Associate Professor Takahashi Masayo created iPS pluripotent stem cells from the skin of monkeys in the Philippines and transformed into epidermal cells with retinal pigment of 1mm thickness and 2mm length.

Next, the scientists implanted into the monkey retina. Currently the state of the implanted monkey eye is still progressing well after nearly 2 months of transplantation.

Earlier, Keio University scientists used iPS to successfully treat spinal cord injury of experimental monkeys. However, with damage to the spinal cord, scientists only need to use the type of neuronal cell conversion at a moderate level in the case of treating this retinopathy, due to the above study is likely to With a small amount of completely transformed cells, the scientific community hopes to get closer to applying this in practice.