Advanced Research in Regenerative Ophthalmology
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 3547
Special Issue Editors
Interests: regenerative ophthalmology, in particular the use of exosomes and mesenchymal stem cells for the regeneration of optic nerve and retina; biological ocular rehabilitation not with artificial prostheses; basic research applied to ophthalmological clinic and surgery and neuro-ophthalmology
Interests: tissue regeneration; stem cells, extracellular vesicles
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
There are many acute and chronic pathologies that can lead to various ocular structures (cornea, iris, vitreous, retina, optic nerve) becoming permanently damaged with consequent vision reduction or loss. Regenerative ophthalmology aims to functionally recover damaged eye cells or tissues, preferably in an early degenerative phase.
Mesenchymal stem cells and, more recently, their released extracellular vesicles (EVs) or more specifically exosomes have proven to be an important therapeutic tool in this regard. To date, attention has shifted from stem cells to ocular EVs, bringing regenerative ophthalmology to an increasingly important and simplified application level.
In particular, biological ocular rehabilitation may involve the removal of autologous mesenchymal stem cells or autologous EVs, their preparation in specialized laboratories and inoculation in the same patient with ocular pathology. This strategy has been shown to induce a regeneration of damaged tissues both directly and indirectly, through mechanisms of both protection and also of growth factor stimulation in loco. It could then be possible to reactivate about 10,000 dormant ocular stem cells by finding, through EVs/exosomes and other bio-products, the biochemical key for ocular cell activation in situ, without the risk of inducing damage to pre-existing ocular tissues.
The development of nanotechnologies has made it possible to develop implantable nanomaterials capable of acting as scaffolds for cell regrowth, as vectors for growth factors or as immunomodulators, especially for the regeneration/rehabilitation of the retina and the optic nerve.
Regenerative ophthalmology, therefore, offers encouraging possibilities for anatomical and functional ocular recovery that, until a few years ago, were unthinkable, and still represents a stimulating challenge, even by comparison, toward artificial prostheses that very often subvert the ocular tissues and no longer allow on-site biological rehabilitation applications. A rational methodological and scientific approach to the biological ophthalmology field in the same location/structure is the key to definitively moving from artificial prostheses to a biological ophthalmological regeneration.
The goal of this Special Issue is to focus attention on the basic research in regenerative ophthalmology. We invite to contributions of reviews and/or original papers reporting new results about the biological ocular rehabilitation.
Dr. Raffaele Nuzzi
Dr. Benedetta Bussolati
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- ocular exosomes
- extracellular vesicles (EVs)
- biological ocular rehabilitation
- ocular cell therapy
- nanomedicine
- regenerative ophthalmology
- mesenchymal stem cells
- ocular immunomodulators
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