Retinal transplant immunology and advancements

Victor L Perez; Hazem M Mousa; Kiyoharu J Miyagishima; Amberlynn A Reed; An-Jey A Su; Thomas N Greenwell; Kia M Washington

doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2024.04.007

Retinal transplant immunology and advancements

Stem Cell Reports. 2024 May 3:S2213-6711(24)00113-9. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2024.04.007. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Victor L Perez¹, Hazem M Mousa², Kiyoharu J Miyagishima³, Amberlynn A Reed⁴, An-Jey A Su⁵, Thomas N Greenwell⁴, Kia M Washington⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA. Electronic address: vperez4@miami.edu.
² Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
³ Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁴ National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁵ Department of Surgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, CU Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
⁶ Department of Surgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, CU Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. Electronic address: kia.washington@cuanschutz.edu.

PMID: 38729155
DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2024.04.007

Abstract

Several gaps and barriers remain for transplanting stem cells into the eye to treat ocular disease, especially diseases of the retina. While the eye has historically been considered immune privileged, recent thinking has identified the immune system as both a barrier and an opportunity for eye stem cell transplantation. Recent approaches leveraging scaffolds or cloaking have been considered in other tissues beyond immune suppression. This perspective paper outlines approaches for transplantation and proposes opportunities to overcome barriers of the immune system in stem cell transplantation in the eye.

Publication types

Review