Publications by authors named "Limor Matzrafi"
Purpose: Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) dysfunction underlies the retinal degenerative process in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and thus RPE cell replacement provides an optimal treatment target. We characterized longitudinally the efficacy of RPE cells derived under xeno-free conditions from clinical and xeno-free grade human embryonic stem cells (OpRegen) following transplantation into the subretinal space of Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats.
Methods: Postnatal (P) day 20 to 25 RCS rats ( = 242) received a single subretinal injection of 25,000 (low)-, 100,000 (mid)-, or 200,000 (high)-dose xeno-free RPE cells.
Article Synopsis
- Teratoma tumor formation is vital for assessing the pluripotency of human pluripotent stem cells, but there's no consistent testing method currently.
- A new detailed teratoma assay involves transplanting undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) with inactive feeder cells into immunodeficient mice, showing high efficiency and reproducibility.
- The assay is sensitive enough to detect teratoma-forming cells even in differentiated cell populations, laying the groundwork for a standardized method for both pluripotency and bio-safety evaluations.
Dysfunction and loss of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) leads to degeneration of photoreceptors in age-related macular degeneration and subtypes of retinitis pigmentosa. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) may serve as an unlimited source of RPE cells for transplantation in these blinding conditions. Here we show the directed differentiation of hESCs toward an RPE fate under defined culture conditions.
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