University of Alicante

Researchers from the Universities of Valencia and Alicante have obtained a new immortal cell line from a Müller cell culture of adult mice retinas. This cell line is the unique at the market that expresses markers of photoreceptors (rhodopsin, recoverin, transducin, blue opsin, red / green opsin) and responds to light stimuli. In addition, it expresses stem cell markers and progenitor that allow it to reproduce itself and remain a stable and homogeneous cell line.

This is a unique model to investigate the function of photoreceptors in vitro which allows the evaluation of the clinical effectiveness of drugs, and it is suitable for regeneration therapies in neurodegenerative diseases of the retina. Companies interested in acquiring this new cell line for commercial exploitation are sought.