Generating Retinas through Guided Pluripotent Stem Cell Differentiation and Direct Somatic Cell Reprogramming

Retinal degeneration diseases affect millions of people worldwide but are among the most difficult eye diseases to cure. Studying the mechanisms and developing new therapies for these blinding diseases requires researchers to have access to many retinal cells. In recent years there has been substantial advances in the field of biotechnology in generating retinal cells and even tissues in vitro, either through programmed sequential stem cell differentiation or direct somatic cell lineage reprogramming. The resemblance of these in vitro-generated retinal cells to native cells has been increasingly utilized by researchers. With the help of these in vitro retinal models, we now have a better understanding of human retinas and retinal diseases. Furthermore, these in vitro-generated retinal cells can be used as donor cells which solves a major hurdle in the development of cell replacement therapy for retinal degeneration diseases, while providing a promising option for patients suffering from these diseases. In this review, we summarize the development of pluripotent stem cell-to-retinal cell differentiation methods, the recent advances in generating retinal cells through direct somatic cell reprogramming, and the translational applications of retinal cells generated in vitro. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the current protocols and possible future directions for improvement.