Abstract
Encapsulated cell technology (ECT) was developed to treat diseases of the central nervous system and the eye. An intraocular implantable encapsulated cell unit prototype for chronic delivery of therapeutic agents has been developed to treat ophthalmic disorders. The ECT has promising applications to major types of ocular disorders such as retinal degeneration, ocular inflammation, and angiogenesis. Retinal vascular proliferation can occur in a number of different sites within the eye, and plays a role in many ocular diseases. To investigate whether ciliary neurotrophic factor delivered via mammalian cells was effective in photoreceptor protection, a short-term study using unencapsulated NTC-201 cells was carried out in a rapid retinal degeneration, transgenic rat retinitis pigmentosa model, S334ter-3. The rcd1 affected dogs carrying a mutation of the gene encoding the b-subunit of the rod cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase were provided by the Retinal Disease Studies Facility, which is a resource maintained by the NEI/NIH and the Foundation Fighting Blindness.