Could stem cells be the cure for macular degeneration?

Age-related macular degeneration (AMDR) is a terrifying eye disease.

The centre of your vision disintegrates. Reading is impossible. The faces of people you love become unrecognizable.

And for the ailment’s most common form – fully 70 per cent of all cases – there is absolutely no cure.

But, in a lab in Montreal, there may be the beginnings of some hope.

Dr. Gilbert Bernier, associate professor of neurosciences at University of Montreal, is leading a team at Maissonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, turning human stem cells into the cone-shaped photoreceptor cells that make vision possible.

“We have developed a very efficient method which allows us to obtain 80 per cent of the human embryonic stem cells differentiating to human cones with the receptors.” Bernier said in an interview with Yahoo Canada.

“This is unprecedented.”

Stem cells are invaluable for this kind of research, because they have the ability to transform into any of the vast variety of components that make up the human body.

“In the system we developed, the cells grow as a tissue, not as single cells.” Bernier explained.

“The human macula is exclusively composed of cone-shaped receptor cells. These are the cells which are dying in macular degeneration. That’s why you lose your central vision. What we have here is human tissue, growing in the dish, that is very reminiscent of a human macula.”

Bernier conceded that whether such a replacement macula would actually connect to the relevant nerves to enable vision has not yet been tested. But he stressed there is sound reason for optimism.

“In experimental models, people have seen that there is a synaptic connection that can be formed. The best result would be obtained at the early stage of the disease, which is easy because it is usually diagnosed early.”

“The surgeon would have to remove the diseased macula, and then put in the patch to replace it. These guys are just amazing for what they can do inside the human eye.”

He added that another comforting aspect of this approach is its simplicity. It doesn’t require huge investments in equipment, infrastructure, manpower or time.

“In a single dish, we can generate 50 million of the receptors,” he said.

“A human macula contains in between four and five million. Our system is very simple. Very straight-forward. It can be done, independently, by other people.”

Bernier believes we are not far from a practical treatment for AMDR. The biggest remaining barrier has nothing to do with either the cells, or the lab work.

“Our main obstacle is funding: how much money we can get to do the research? The money is really the critical issue here – how big a work force we can put on a single project?

“I would really encourage people to support Foundation Funding Blindness Canada. They are really making a big, big difference.”