Hematopoietic stem cells and methods of treatment of neovascular eye diseases therewith

Patent Number: 7,153,501

It is known that various hematopoietic cells are involved in the ocular injury caused by uncontrolled angiogenesis. This occurs, for example, in wet macular degeneration, a disease in which antiangiogeneic agents are clinically used successfully. Since hematopoietic lineage cells are known to enter the ocular areas and assist in angiogenesis, the inventors asked why not use these cells as a vector for delivering an antiangiogenic agent?

Essentially the patent covers the use of lineage negative hematopoietic stem cells, that contain endothelial progenitors, as vectors for the anti-angiogenic protein fragment of tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase.

In vivo data in an animal model of angiogenesis mediated macular degeneration is provided in the examples section of the patent.

View this patent on the USPTO website.