Stem Cell Rep: Human-sourced stem cells reveal the pathogenesis of glaucoma

June 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --- Glaucoma is a serious eye disease that causes vision lossIn a recent study, researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine used a human stem cell model to find that they could use this information to develop new strategies to slow the disease by analyzing defects in cells damaged by glaucomaThe study, published June 11 in the journal Stem Cell Report, focused on genetic mutations in retinal neurocytosis, which are the connectionbetween the eye and the brainThe researchers found that when human pluripotent stem cells were differentiated into retinal nerve cells, they were able to identify features associated with glaucoma neurodegenerationDrJason Meyer, author of the article,and an associate professor of medicine and molecular genetics, said: "Once the target has been identified, many possibilities will be opened up for the eventual development of treatments"During the occurrence of glaucoma, the degeneration of retinal nerve cells can lead to vision loss and eventual blindnessThe researchers extracted pluripotent stem cells from patients with glaucomaThey then differentiated stem cells into retinal nerve cell cells to look for the intrinsic mechanisms of neurodegenerative defectsIn addition, they used gene editing techniques to introduce glaucoma-related gene mutations into stem cells to simulate the occurrence of diseases and to try to treat the disease by correcting genetic defects in the patient's source cellsThe study found that during the process of glaucoma, the autophagy process inside the cell function abnormally, the use of a drug compound called rapamycin (known to promote the autophagy process), can effectively alleviate the defects of the cell autophagy, the cells become more normalMeyer says human stem cells play an important role in the study of human diseases, especially neurodegenerative diseasesAfter identifying targets within cells (autophagy processes), work will now focus on analyzing methods that treat glaucoma with different types of drugs(BioValley Bioon.com) Source: Researchers Model Human Stem Cells to Identify de Generation in Glaucoma Original Source: Kirstin BVanderWall et Al, Retinal Ganglion Cells With a Glaucoma OPTN (E50K) Mutation Exhibit DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2020.05.009