Regenerating optic pathways from the eye to the brain
Open accessAbstract
Humans are highly visual. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the neurons that connect the eyes to the brain, fail to regenerate after damage, eventually leading to blindness. Here, we review research on regeneration and repair of the optic system. Intrinsic developmental growth programs can be reactivated in RGCs, neural activity can enhance RGC regeneration, and functional reformation of eye-to-brain connections is possible, even in the adult brain. Transplantation and gene therapy may serve to replace or resurrect dead or injured retinal neurons. Retinal prosthetics that can restore vision in animal models may too have practical power in the clinical setting. Functional restoration of sight in certain forms of blindness is likely to occur in human patients in the near future.
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Embryonic and neonatal RGCs can regenerate axons after damage, but this capacity is lost within days after birth, likely due to a molecular program intrinsic to RGCs.
“If damaged, RGCs of embryos and neonates can regenerate axons, but this capacity is lost within days after birth, likely due to a molecular program intrinsic to the RGCs6,22.”
From Reprogramming to recover youthful epigenetic information and restore vision (2020) · cites this paper as [22]
The “Intrinsic factors that limit RGC regeneration” section (page not supplied) says RGC axon growth speed falls sharply from embryonic to postnatal ages, likely because of molecular programs intrinsic to RGCs. It does not say that embryonic and neonatal RGCs regenerate after damage or that this capacity is lost within days after birth. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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Reprogramming to recover youthful epigenetic information and restore vision
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- Authors
- Laha, B., Stafford, B. K., & Huberman, A. D.
- Affiliations
- Stanford Medicine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Huberman, Andrew D.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2017-06-09
- Volume
- 356
- Issue
- 6342
- Pages
- 1031-1034
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- PMC
- PMC6333302
- OpenAlex
- W2621975946
- Cited by
- 172
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 1.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Eye Institute
- Glaucoma Research Foundation
- McKnight Foundation
- Pew Charitable Trusts
- E. Matilda Ziegler Foundation for the Blind
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Nerve injury and regeneration
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Retinal Development and Disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Keywords
- retinal ganglion cell regeneration, optic nerve regeneration, optic pathway, blindness, neural transplantation, gene therapy, retinal prosthesis, vision restoration, axon regeneration
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Axons, Blindness, Cicatrix, Humans, Inflammation, Myelin Proteins, Optic Nerve, Regeneration, Retinal Ganglion Cells, Stem Cell Transplantation
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