J Photochem Photobiol B. 2019 Dec 3;203:111727. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2019.111727. [Epub ahead of print]

Looking into dental pulp stem cells in the therapy of photoreceptors and retinal degenerative disorders.

Alsaeedi HA¹, Lam C², Koh AE³, Teh SW³, Mok PL⁴, Higuchi A⁵, Then KY², Bastion MC², Alzahrani B⁶, Farhana A⁶, Muthuvenkatachalam BS⁷, Samrot AV⁸, Swamy KB⁹, Marraiki N¹⁰, Elgorban AM¹¹, Subbiah SK¹².

Abstract

Blindness and vision impairment are caused by irremediable retinal degeneration in affected individuals worldwide. Cell therapy for a retinal replacement can potentially rescue their vision, specifically for those who lost the light sensing photoreceptors in the eye. As such, well-characterized retinal cells are required for the replacement purposes. Stem cell-based therapy in photoreceptor and retinal pigment epithelium transplantation is well received, however, the drawbacks of retinal transplantation is the limited clinical protocols development, insufficient number of transplanted cells for recovery, the selection of potential stem cell sources that can be differentiated into the target cells, and the ability of cells to migrate to the host tissue. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) belong to a subset of mesenchymal stem cells, and are recently being studied due to its high capability of differentiating into cells of the neuronal lineage. In this review, we look into the potential uses of DPSC in treating retinal degeneration, and also the current data supporting its application.