Dry AMD
research & testing platform

Age-related Macular Degeneration

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is an ophthalmologic disease causing irreversible partial vision loss or for the worst cases blindness.

AMD is the first cause of vision loss after 50 years old, and prevalence is about 25 % for people older than 75. It is estimated that it will affect nearly 196 million people worldwide in 2020, including 69 million cases in Europe (Wong et al., 2014).
There are two kinds of this pathology : atrophic and exudative AMD, also called respectively dry and wet AMD.

There are treatments for the exudative form such as anti-VEGF antibodies (ranibizumab and bevacizumab). The atrophic form, which corresponds to more than 90% of cases, doesn't have any satisfactory therapeutic option to prevent vision loss (Schmier et al., 2006)

In order to meet this expectation, Phenocell offers R&D outsourcing services to screen small molecule librairies and test active compound using an exclusive Dry AMD model based on iPSC technology.

iPSC-derived retinal pigmented epithelial cells display all the key functional characteristics of normal human retinal pigmented epithelial cells while having, unlike cell lines, a normal karyotype. Due to their high genomic stability, their availability in almost unlimited quantities and their high level of inter-batch reproducibility, iPSC-derived cells are therefore the most robust and relevant tool for the execution of your screening campaigns. 

Identify new pharmaceutical active ingredients with our selection of innovative high-throughput tests on iPSC-derived retinal pigmented epithelial cells.

Take advantage of the characteristics of a primoculture with the benefits of a cell line using iPSC-derived cells: 

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• high genomic stability

• available in almost unlimited quantities 

• high batch-to-batch reproducibility

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iPSC-derived cells are the most relevant model for HTS studies on human cells!

In vitro dry AMD model
with the characteristics of primoculture​
and the advantages of cell line

Phenocell's dry AMD model is based on the use of iPSC-retinal pigmented epithelial cells from multiple donors:

• Human iPSC-RPE cells differentiated from blood of healthly donors

• Human iPSC-RPE cells differentiated from blood from ADM-derived patients

Phenocell's iPSC-RPE model are fully characterized:

• Typical pigmented and polygonal morphology

• Expression of key markers
  (e.g. MITF, ZO-1, PMEL17)

• High level of purity 

• Outer retinal barrier resistance

Our iPSC-RPE model is available from 6 wp down to 96 wp

Cell stress & degeneration

Phenocell dry AMD model is based on chronic A2E low concentration treatment combined to blue light irradiation of iPSC-derived RPE cells.

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A2E (N-retinyl-N-retinylidene ethanolamine)

Chronic stress A2E treatment induce:

• Oxidative stress (ROS content)

• Inflammatory cytokine release 

• Complement activation dysregulation

• Drusen-related protein expression

Blue light

A2E + Blue light induce:

• Cell death and apoptosis

• Loss of RPE cells

Get a sample report on
phenocell in vitro dry AMD model

Dry AMD related Bioassays by phenocell

Find bellow some example of dry AMD related bioassays that Phenocell offer as service:

If you do not find your favorite bioassays, do not worry, custom biological tests are available.

Contact us for more information