Blindness : gene therapy has restored the sight of mice

CreativeNature/epictura

Published the 04.10.2017 at 08: 00

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Gene therapy could one day restore sight to the visually impaired. This promising technique has helped to repair the retinal cells of mice with blindness, reports a study published in Science Translational medicine.

The vision is made possible through 2 types of receptor cells of light located in the retina. It is of the cones, responsible for vision during the day, and rods take over at night. A pigment discovered in the late 1990s, melanopsin, located also in the retina, could also play a role. It regulating in particular the constriction of the pupil.

Loss of sensitivity to light

The research team of the university of Oxford (United Kingdom) was particularly interested in this molecule to counteract the degeneration of the retina, or even reverse this phenomenon.

Their experiments were performed in mice with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disease, degenerative of the eye that is characterized by a progressive loss of vision. In humans, this disease particularly affects older people between 10 and 30 years.

As, the photoreceptor cells are less sensitive to light. But these last are not destroyed, although damaged, they persist in the retina. The british researchers have therefore tried to repair it.

Find a visual perception

To achieve this regeneration, the scientists injected the melanopsin in the retina of the mouse. They were then monitored for over a year. Throughout this period, they have presented a clear improvement in their vision : they were able to recognize objects in their environment.

In addition, thanks to the injection of melanopsin, the cells were again able to react to light and send visual information to the brain.

The british team that worked, in parallel, on the retina implant of electronic think that the genetic approach will bring greater benefits to patients and is simpler to administer. “To be able to render the view in many patients present in our services through a simple procedure genetics is very exciting. Our next step is to start the clinical trials in these “, commented Samantha, laboratory of ophthalmology, Nuffield Oxford and responsible for such work.