Scientists at the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center have received new funding to investigate how local retinal environments influence the success of stem cell-based therapies for geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration.
Aya Barzelay-Wollman, assistant professor of ophthalmology at UCLA, has been awarded $2.5 million by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to study why transplanted retinal cells survive in some diseased environments but fail in others.
GA causes progressive and irreversible vision loss through the degeneration of retinal tissue, and although current treatments may slow disease progression in some patients, they do not replace tissue that has already been lost. Stem cell-based strategies could potentially restore damaged retinal cells, but inconsistent graft survival and integration remain significant barriers.
Barzelay-Wollman’s team will focus on the retinal “transition zone” – the irregular boundary between preserved retinal tissue and areas of complete atrophy. This region contains some of the last surviving retinal cells and may provide important clues about which biological conditions support or inhibit transplanted cells.
Using human donor tissue, stem cell-derived retinal cells and advanced molecular analyses, the researchers will characterize the cellular, molecular and structural features of different retinal environments. They will then examine how transplanted cells respond under these conditions, with the aim of identifying factors that promote survival and integration.
The team also hopes to determine whether unfavorable features of the diseased retinal environment can be modified to improve the effectiveness of regenerative therapies.
The project includes a collaboration with Tsu-Chin “T-C.” Tsao, distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCLA, who will provide expertise for a precision robotics component of the study.
Barzelay-Wollman, who also treats patients with retinal disease at the UCLA Doris Stein Eye Research Center, and her team believe the work could provide a stronger biological foundation for future cell replacement strategies in GA.
The retinal research forms part of $4.9 million in CIRM funding awarded to the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center, with a further $2.4 million supporting research into early human germ cell development and infertility.
Source: UCLA Health.
