Researchers at the MIPT Centre for Living Systems have developed a method to culture fragments of donor human retina in laboratory conditions. The technique will allow them to test viral vectors for gene therapy before moving to animal trials. Adopting this approach is expected to speed up and make safer the development of treatments for blindness caused by photoreceptor degeneration.
The scientists explained that within six hours of extraction, retinal fragments are processed and placed in a special nutrient solution on membrane inserts. This method keeps the retina viable for up to two weeks – long enough to test new viral gene delivery vectors and therapeutic platforms.
“Our approach, based on culturing explants from donor retinas, allows us to directly study the interaction of viral vectors with human tissue while preserving the complex architecture and cell types,” said Alsallum Almakdad, head of the retinopathy gene therapy group at MIPT’s Genome Engineering Laboratory.
The technology is expected to accelerate the development of therapies for conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease and age‑related macular degeneration – which affect millions of people worldwide, the scientists said.
