Photoreceptor transplantation is a potential therapeutic strategy for degenerative retinal diseases. Studies on mechanisms contributing to retinal regeneration and vision repair identified cellular components transfer (CCT) as playing a role, in addition to somatic augmentation (referred to as “cell replacement” in this paper). In CCT, donor photoreceptors shuttle proteins, RNA, and mitochondria to host photoreceptors through intercellular connections. The discovery of CCT in the transplantation context triggered a re-interpretation of prior transplantation studies that generally did not include specific CCT assays and thereby broadly emphasized the cell replacement model, reflecting the prevailing understanding of retinal transplantation biology at that time. In addition to clarifying our understanding of photoreceptor biology, CCT has raised the possibility of developing treatments to replenish molecular deficiencies in diseased photoreceptor cells. As the CCT field evolves, investigators have used diverse terminology, and implemented different CCT assays following transplantation in animal models. The non-standardized terminology of CCT and absent minimal assay standards for detection can hinder communication between investigators and comparison between studies. In this review, we discuss the current understanding of CCT, provide an overview of transplantation and regeneration studies in small and large animals, and propose terminology and a minimal assay standard for CCT. Further research on CCT may eventually provide new avenues to treat a range of hereditary and acquired retinopathies while illuminating mechanisms of cell-cell interaction in the retina.

中文翻译：

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视网膜感光细胞之间的细胞成分转移


光感受器移植是退行性视网膜疾病的一种潜在治疗策略。对促进视网膜再生和视觉修复机制的研究发现，除了体细胞增强（在本文中称为“细胞替代”）外，细胞成分转移 （CCT） 也起作用。在 CCT 中，供体光感受器通过细胞间连接将蛋白质、RNA 和线粒体穿梭到宿主光感受器。在移植环境中发现 CCT 引发了对先前移植研究的重新解释，这些研究通常不包括特定的 CCT 测定，从而广泛强调细胞替代模型，反映了当时对视网膜移植生物学的普遍理解。除了阐明我们对感光器生物学的理解外，CCT 还提高了开发治疗方法以补充患病感光细胞分子缺陷的可能性。随着 CCT 领域的发展，研究人员使用了不同的术语，并在动物模型中移植后实施了不同的 CCT 检测。CCT 的非标准化术语和缺乏最低检测检测标准会阻碍研究者之间的沟通和研究之间的比较。在本综述中，我们讨论了目前对 CCT 的理解，概述了小型和大型动物的移植和再生研究，并提出了 CCT 的术语和最低检测标准。对 CCT 的进一步研究最终可能为治疗一系列遗传性和获得性视网膜病变提供新的途径，同时阐明视网膜中细胞间相互作用的机制。