The retina, like other central nervous system tissues, has poor regenerative properties in humans. Therefore, diseases that cause retinal cell loss, such as Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinitis pigmentosa (RP), Leber congenital amaurosis, Usher syndrome, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy, typically result in permanent visual impairment. Stem cell technologies have revolutionized our ability to produce neural cells in abundant supply. Much stem cell research effort is focused on producing the required cell types for cell replacement, or to generate disease-in-a-dish models to elucidate novel disease mechanisms for therapeutic development. Here we review the recent advances in stem cell studies relevant to producing RPE and retinal cells, and highlight future directions.
Keywords: Direct cellular reprogramming; Disease modeling; Progenitor; RPE; Retina; Stem cells; hESC; iPSC.