Promoting vascular repair in the retina: can stem/progenitor cells help?

Abstract

Since its first epidemic in the 1940s, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) has been a challenging illness in neonatology. Higher than physiological oxygen levels impede the development of the immature retinal neuropil and vasculature. Current treatment regimens include cryotherapy, laser photocoagulation, and anti-VEGF agents. Unfortunately, none of these approaches can rescue the normal retinal vasculature, and each has significant safety concerns. The limitations of these approaches have led to new efforts to understand the pathological characteristics in each phase of ROP and to find a safer and more effective therapeutic approach. In the era of stem cell biology and with the need for new treatments for ROP, this review discusses the possible future use of unique populations of proangiogenic cells for therapeutic revascularization of the preterm retina.

Keywords:

• retinopathy of prematurity
• ROP therapy
• endothelial progenitor cells
• CD34⁺ cells
• endothelial colony-forming cells
• oxygen-induced retinopathy

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. EY012011, EY007739, HL110170 to MBG, and by a Research to Prevent Blindness unrestricted grant awarded to the Department of Ophthalmology at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. This paper was presented in part at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, May 4–8, 2014, as an oral presentation with interim findings.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.