Osaka Univ: transplant of corneal epithelial cell sheet from iPS cells: Visual acuity recovery in blind patients
Research results: points
The world’s first transplantation of human iPS cell-derived corneal epithelial cell sheets
Significantly contributes to the recovery of vision in many patients who are blind due to corneal disease
Overview:
A group of professors Koji Nishida (Ophthalmology) and others at the Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, developed a corneal epithelial stem cell exhaustion using a corneal epithelial cell sheet prepared from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells * 1) in July 2019. Transplanted to one patient with illness * 2.
Corneal regeneration using iPS cells:
In this clinical research, iPS cells of other people provided by iPS Cell Research Institute, Kyoto University are used.
This is the world’s first clinical study of corneal regeneration using iPS cells.
Corneal epithelial cells were induced by a method developed independently.
This time, we examined the safety and effectiveness of corneal epithelial tissue (cultured into a sheet).
The patient was discharged on August 23, 2019. We will continue to follow-up after transplantation.
Future research:
This method can overcome problems in existing treatments, especially issues such as donor shortages and rejection.
We provide innovative treatments for “recovering vision in patients with corneal diseases and blindness around the world”.
Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine