A Look into Retinal Organoids: Methods, Analytical Techniques, and Applications

Overview

Journal Cell Mol Life Sci

Publisher Springer

Specialty Biology

Date 2021 Aug 22

PMID 34420069

Citations 37

Authors

Tess A V Afanasyeva

Julio C Corral-Serrano

Alejandro Garanto

Ronald Roepman

Michael E Cheetham

Rob W J Collin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) cause progressive loss of light-sensitive photoreceptors in the eye and can lead to blindness. Gene-based therapies for IRDs have shown remarkable progress in the past decade, but the vast majority of forms remain untreatable. In the era of personalised medicine, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) emerge as a valuable system for cell replacement and to model IRD because they retain the specific patient genome and can differentiate into any adult cell type. Three-dimensional (3D) iPSCs-derived retina-like tissue called retinal organoid contains all major retina-specific cell types: amacrine, bipolar, horizontal, retinal ganglion cells, Müller glia, as well as rod and cone photoreceptors. Here, we describe the main applications of retinal organoids and provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-art analysis methods that apply to this model system. Finally, we will discuss the outlook for improvements that would bring the cellular model a step closer to become an established system in research and treatment development of IRDs.

Citing Articles

Generation of a Double Reporter mES Cell Line to Simultaneously Trace the Generation of Retinal Progenitors and Photoreceptors.

Zabiegalov O, Berger A, Kamdar D, Adamou K, Tian C, Mbefo M Cells. 2025; 14(4).

PMID: 39996725 PMC: 11854395. DOI: 10.3390/cells14040252.

Small molecule treatment alleviates photoreceptor cilia defects in LCA5-deficient human retinal organoids.

Athanasiou D, Afanasyeva T, Chai N, Ziaka K, Jovanovic K, Guarascio R Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2025; 13(1):26.

PMID: 39934925 PMC: 11817871. DOI: 10.1186/s40478-025-01943-y.

PEGDA-based HistoBrick for increasing throughput of cryosectioning and immunohistochemistry in organoid and small tissue studies.

Vuille-Dit-Bille E, Utz L, Mullner F, Arteaga-Moreta V, Hou Y, Spirig S Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):412.

PMID: 39747958 PMC: 11696907. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-83164-2.

Inherited Retinal Degenerations and Non-Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Progress and Unmet Needs.

Duncan J, Bowman A, Laster A, Gelfman C, Birch D, Boye S Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2024; 13(12):28.

PMID: 39688851 PMC: 11654773. DOI: 10.1167/tvst.13.12.28.

Extrinsic electric field modulates neuronal development and increases photoreceptor population in retinal organoids.

Rajendran Nair D, Gupta A, Iseri E, Wei T, Phuong Quach L, Seiler M Front Neurosci. 2024; 18:1438903.

PMID: 39678532 PMC: 11639233. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1438903.

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