‘Mini lens’ grown in lab could help tackle cataracts
Breakthrough as researchers grow lens using stem cells for the first time
Scientists have found a way to grow a realistic human lens, potentially providing a new path for the treatment of cataracts, one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide.
Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), working with colleagues at the University of Osaka in Japan and Cardiff University, have created tiny “mini lenses” in the lab using human stem cells for the very first time.
These miniature lenses closely resemble the natural lens inside the human eye and could help scientists better understand eventually how to prevent or treat cataracts.
Cataracts are formed when proteins inside the lens become damaged or clump together, causing a cloudiness that prevents the lens from effectively focusing light onto the retina. Cataracts are one of the leading causes of vision loss and blindness, estimated to affect 94 million people worldwide, and can currently only be treated with surgery.
In this study, published in the journal npj Regenerative Medicine, researchers started with human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are adult cells that have been reprogrammed into a stem cell-like state. They then developed a growth method that encouraged the cells to organise themselves into lens-like structures.
These lens organoids possess many of the key features seen in real human lenses, including the proteins that keep human lenses transparent, structures resembling the lens capsule, which surrounds and protects the lens, and highly organised fibre cells that are contained within human lenses.
The scientists also found that the cells from these mini lenses could generate new lens-like structures, suggesting that the system may mimic some of the natural regenerative processes seen during lens development.
“This is a major step forward as it is very difficult to obtain and study human eye lens tissue while it is developing. We've now successfully grown miniature human lens tissue from stem cells in the laboratory and identified the conditions needed for it to closely resemble a natural human lens.
“As the technology develops, these lab-grown tissues could help us test new medicines, better understand diseases that affect vision, and potentially contribute to the development of future regenerative treatments.”
Lead author Professor Barbara Pierscionek, of the Centre for Biomedicine and Health Innovation at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)