Scientists successfully restored a mouse’s vision by slowing down the biological clock of cells in the retina to regain healthy genetic function. This finding represents the first demonstration of reprogramming complex tissues, such as cells in the eye, at an earlier age; this could change the way human glaucoma is treated.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School reported having reset the aging clock in the eye cells of mice. Thus, vision loss could be successfully delayed in these animals with a condition similar to human glaucoma, one of the main causes of blindness in the world. According to the group of scientists, this experiment represents an achievement in reestablishing glaucoma-induced vision loss, rather than simply stopping its progression.
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“Our study demonstrates the possibility of safely re-establishing the age of complex tissues, such as those of the retina, and restoring them to their youthful biological function,” said lead author David Sinclair, professor of genetics at the Blavatnik Institute of the School of Medicine. from Harvard. Sinclair and his colleagues caution, these findings have yet to be consolidated in future studies, including different animal models before any human experiment. And they added, these results offer proof of conceptualizing a way to design treatments for a host of age-related human diseases.
For the experiment, the team used an adeno-associated virus, an infectious agent in both humans and animals, as a vehicle to deliver three genes to restore youth to the retinas of mice. These are normally activated during embryonic development; These three genes belong to a series of four called Yamanaka factors.
This treatment had multiple benefits in the eye, it promoted nerve regeneration after an injury to the optic nerve in the mouse. Vision loss in animals with a condition that mimics human glaucoma regressed. Likewise, vision loss was reversed in animals without glaucoma. “If affirmed through additional studies, these findings could be transformative for the care of age-related visual diseases such as glaucoma and for the fields of biology and medical therapies for the disease in general,” Sinclair said.
This discovery allows science to approach new therapies to reestablish youth in aging cells with loss of function. Advances could not only be applied to fighting glaucoma but also other types of cell restoration in the human body.
