Subretinal Human Umbilical Tissue-Derived Cell Transplantation Preserves Retinal Synaptic Connectivity and Attenuates Muller Glial Reactivity.

ABSTRACT: Human umbilical tissue-derived cells (hUTC or palucorcel) are currently under clinical investigation for the treatment of geographic atrophy, a late stage of macular degeneration, but how hUTC transplantation mediates vision recovery is not fully elucidated. Subretinal administration of hUTC preserves visual function in the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat, a genetic model of retinal degeneration caused by Mertk loss of function. hUTC secrete synaptogenic and neurotrophic factors that improve the health and connectivity of the neural retina. Therefore, we investigated the progression of synapse and photoreceptor loss and whether hUTC treatment preserves photoreceptors and synaptic connectivity in the RCS rats of both sexes. We found that RCS retinas display significant deficits in synap

SUBMITTER: Koh S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5864147 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature