Isolation, characterization and differentiation of trabecular meshwork stem cells for the study and treatment of primary open-angle glaucoma

• Main Author: Padmapriya, Sathiyanathan
• Other Authors: Tina Wong
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/65622
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common form of glaucoma, a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Development of POAG is associated with increased resistance to aqueous humour outflow through the malfunctioning trabecular meshwork (TM). Cell-based therapy may be an effective approach to treat POAG but limited by lack of expandable pool of stem cells and mature cells of the TM. In vivo studies have demonstrated the existence of a stem cell niche in the insert region of the TM. Understanding of the insert cells is limited since they had not been isolated for study in vitro. Primary TM cells also have limited lifespan which challenges its application. The purpose of the study is to isolate the elusive TM progenitors and differentiate them into functional TM cells for clinical application.