Figure 3.

Summary figure depicting significant studies carried out in the article. (A) The detrimental effects cause oxidative stress in RPE cells that leads to degeneration. Major mechanistic features involved in oxidative stress are Nrf₂ signalling, complement system, lipofuscin formation, protein aggregation, mitochondrial damage and dysfunction. (B) Various types of stem cells such as human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs), human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), retinal progenitor cells (RPCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were used to differentiate into RPE cells using transcriptional factors. The differentiated cells were injected in the eye either as intraretinal or as subretinal injections. (C) Mitochondrial cells are transferred from functional cell to damaged cells through tunnelling nanotubes (TNTs) that functions as cell-to-cell communication. The beneficial effects of mitochondrial transfer were increased mitochondrial function, cellular activity and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels.