"An injection of stem cells into the eye may soon slow or reverse the effects of earlystage agerelated macular degeneration according to new research from scientists at CedarsSinai http Currently there is no treatment that slows the progression of the disease which is the leading cause of vision loss in people over .  This is the first study to show preservation of vision after a single injection of adultderived human cells into a rat model with agerelated macular degeneration said Shaomei Wang MD PhD http lead author of the study published in the journal STEM CELLS and a research scientist in the Eye Program http at the CedarsSinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute. http The stem cell injection resulted in  days of preserved vision in laboratory rats which roughly equates to  years in humans. Agerelated macular degeneration affects upward of  million Americans. It occurs when the small central portion of the retina known as the macula deteriorates. The retina is the lightsensing nerve tissue at the back of the eye. Macular degeneration may also be caused by environmental factors aging and a genetic predisposition.  When animal models with macular degeneration were injected with induced neural progenitor stem cells which derive from the more commonly known induced pluripotent stem cells healthy cells began to migrate around the retina and formed a protective layer. This protective layer prevented ongoing degeneration of the vital retinal cells responsible for vision.  CedarsSinai researchers in the Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell iPSC Core http directed by Dhruv Sareen PhD http with support from the David and Janet Polak Foundation Stem Cell Core Laboratory first converted adult human skin cells into powerful induced pluripotent stem cells iPSC which can be expanded indefinitely and then made into any cell of the human body. In this study these induced pluripotent stem cells were then directed toward a neural progenitor cell fate known as induced neural progenitor stem cells or iNPCs.  These induced neural progenitor stem cells are a novel source of adultderived cells which should have powerful effects on slowing down vision loss associated with macular degeneration said Clive Svendsen PhD http director of the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute and contributing author to the study. Though additional preclinical data is needed our institute is close to a time when we can offer adult stem cells as a promising source for personalized therapies for this and other human diseases. Next steps include testing the efficacy and safety of the stem cell injection in preclinical animal studies to provide information for applying for an investigational new drug. From there clinical trials will be designed to test potential benefit in patients with laterstage agerelated macular degeneration.  Additional CedarsSinai authors include Dhruv Sareen PhD Yuchun Tsai PhD Bin Lu MD PhD Benjamin Bakondi PhD Sergey Girman PhD and Anais Sahabian PhD. This work was supported by the Simon and Beathrice Apple Stem Cell Fund for Eye Research the David and Janet Polak Foundation Stem Cell Core Laboratory National Institutes of Health R EY Department of Defense WXWH Foundation Fighting Blindness and the Knights Templar Eye Foundation Inc. Citation STEM CELLS.  April Human iPSCderived neural progenitors preserve vision in an AMDlike model."