Adult bone marrow may lead to a cure for certain genetic eye diseases

Mon 4th February 2008

A team from the University of Cincinnati, USA, have completed a study using mice that showed that bone marrow stem cells could switch roles and produce keratocan, a protein involved in the growth of the cornea. With this knowledge, the ability of marrow cells to ‘differentiate’ into keratocan-producing cells, in future it might provide a means for treating abnormal corneal cell growth in patients.

The researchers induced corneal abnormalities that mimicked genetic eye mutations and then injected bone marrow stem cells into the corneas to see if they altered the mutations.

The study showed that after only one week, the abnormal corneas of animal models injected with bone marrow stem cells began to change shape and heal.

“We found that bone marrow stem cells can contribute to the formation of connective tissues,” Professor Winston Kao, research scientist at Cincinnati’s department of ophthalmology, told a Florida conference last week. “If we can change the function of non-corneal bone marrow stem cells by intrducing them into human corneas, we can possibly repair the loss of visual sharpness caused by mutations.” Professor Kao and his coworkers are now planning a clinical trial.

If the trial succeeds, Professor Kao said, the procedure could help prevent blindness in future generations who suffer from genetic corneal diseases. He added that cornea transplants have been successful to some degree but do not always eliminate the problem. “When the donor cells disappear after a few years, the corneal disease often reoccurs,” he said. “However, if we can place the stem cells inside the cornea, 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.”

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