Bone marrow stem cells may cure eye disease
Researchers from University of Cincinnati reported that bone marrow stem cells may cure eye disease. The study with mice showed that bone marrow stem cells can switch roles and produce keratocan, a natural protein involved in the growth of the cornea — the transparent, outer layer of the eyeball. The abnormal corneas of animal models injected with bone marrow stem cells began to change shape and heal.
It was further found out that bone marrow stem cells can contribute to the formation of connective tissues. A trial was planned to follow up this finding and if it succeeds, the procedure could bring hope for patients who suffer from genetic corneal diseases to help prevent blindness.
Corneal transplants are the current mode of treatment for genetic corneal diseases, but experts say that this treatment was successful to some degree but do not always eliminate the problem. When the donor cells disappear, the condition recurs.
With bone marrow stem cells as mode of treatment, they will repair the lost function of the mutated gene, and stem cells can presumably renew themselves and maintain effective treatment longer, if not forever.
Source: ChinaReview.cn
