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Updated: May 12, 2026

Engineering Transplantation-suitable Retinal Pigment Epithelium Tissue Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Published on: September 6, 2018
Development of human embryonic stem cell therapies for age-related macular degeneration
Amanda-Jayne F Carr1, Matthew J K Smart, Conor M Ramsden
1The London Project to Cure Blindness, Division of ORBIT, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, 11-43 Bath Street, London, EC1V 9EL, UK. a.carr@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in older adults and ultimately leads to the death of photoreceptor cells in the macular area of the neural retina. Currently, treatments are only available for patients with the wet form of AMD. In this review, we describe recent approaches to develop cell-based therapies for the treatment of AMD. Recent research has focused on replacing the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a monolayer of cells vital to photoreceptor cell health. We discuss the various methods used to differentiate and purify RPE from human embryonic stem cells (HESC), and describe the surgical approaches being used to transplant these cells in existing and forthcoming clinical trials.
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