Advances in the application of optogenetic in the treatment of retinal degenerative diseases / 中华眼底病杂志

ABSTRACT

Retinal degeneration is a blind eye disease caused by changes in the function of retinal pigment epithelial cells and photoreceptor cells. Stem cell transplantation, gene therapy, retinal prosthesis implantation and other new biological technologies have made great progress in the restoration of visual function, but they still face many difficulties. Optogenetic is a new interdisciplinary technology that combines optics, physiology and genetics. It can express photosensitive proteins on retinal neurons in retinal degeneration. The light stimulation causing depolarization or hyperpolarization reaction of cells that expressed photosensitive proteins to gain light sensitivity. Compared with the immune rejection of stem cell therapy, the greater individualization of gene therapy and the greater traumatic nature of retinal prosthesis implantation, optogenetic technology has significant advantages, and it is also urgent to solve the problems of low spatial and temporal resolution and light sensitivity. With the gradual development of optogenetics technology, it is bound to form a deeper level of cross and fusion with other fields, so as to contribute to the recovery of visual function of patients with retinal degeneration.