Electrical Fields Direct Retinal Ganglion Cell Axon Growth (.pdf)

Restoration of vision in patients with advanced optic neuropathies such as glaucoma requires regenerating the optic nerve (ON). A major hurdle to ON regeneration was the lack of available retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Now that advances in stem cell biology readily allow for the production of RGCs, the rate-limiting step to ON regeneration becomes directing axons of newly transplanted cells from the retina their distant targets. While much of the current efforts to address this problem attempt to recapitulate ON development, studies suggest that an exogenous signal is needed. The body has naturally occurring electrical currents and many tissue culture experiments have shown that cells grow directionally in an electrical field. The effects of an electrical field on RGC growth, however, have never been tested. This project addresses the question of whether electrical fields can be used to direct the growth of transplanted RGC axons.