Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide, and vision loss due to the loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) cannot be reversed. Some studies have looked at replacing RGCs through cell transplants. However, one limitation of these stem cell transplantation strategies is that most donor cells remain at the site of injection and do not migrate where they are most needed.
To provide an improved solution, researchers created RGCs out of stem cells and then tested the ability of signaling molecules known as chemokines to guide these new neurons to their correct positions within the retina. They changed the microenvironment of the eye by creating an artificial gradient of stromal cell-derived factor 1, a chemokine, which led to a 2.7-fold increase in donor RGC migration into the ganglion cell layer from blood. This method of using chemokines to guide donor cell movement…
