Retinal Development and Regeneration

One of the final goals of our research is the regaining of normal functions previously lost in damaged tissue. While it has long been believed regeneration of the central nervous system was absolutely impossible, scientists have recently made progress towards this goal. For the regeneration of damaged tissues, both morphological and functional reconstitutions are an indispensable process. As undifferentiated cells, have better survival rates in all types of environments as well as better competency with regard to extracellular signaling factors, we have tried to take advantage of these characteristics. We are trying to find methodologies that will let these cells recapitulate the developmental processes in order to regain the normal physiological functions of damaged tissues. Some of the candidate cells that can be utilized for retinal regeneration are retinal stem cells and embryonic stem cells. In this study, we describe a method for inducing these cells towards specific cell fates as well as their potential therapeutic application. We also describe the significance of investigating the effects of the microenvironment in damaged retina for the purpose of inducing neural retinal regeneration.