Researchers report on the generation of transplantable retinal
cells from cultured pig induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
The University of Louisville and University of Missouri team
subsequently confirmed these cells could integrate into the
damaged retina of experimental pigs. The researchers claim their
results lay the foundation for future studies using the pig as a
model for retinal stem cell transplantation. Their work is
published in Stem Cells in a paper titled “Differentiation of
Swine iPSC into Rod Photoreceptors and Their Integration into
the Retina.” Studies in mice have demonstrated the feasibility
of retinal cell transplantation therapy for human retinal
disease, but in contrast with the human eye, the mouse retina is
rod-dominant and lacks a macula, which means the animal is not
an ideal physiological or anatomical model for extrapolating to
humans, explains the University of Louisville’s Douglas Dean,
Ph.D., and colleagues. In contrast, the swine eye contains a
cone-dominant central visua