Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42587093›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2026

Long-term daily light exposure boosts human retinal organoid differentiation.

Edwin M van Oosten, Wietske Kieboom, Anita D M Hoogendoorn, Stijn L Berendsen, Julia Haerkens, Marieke M E van der Maden, Eva Hruba, Devin Veerman, Anja Bufe, Seba Almedawar and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Edwin M van OostenDepartment of Pediatrics, Radboud University Medical Center, Amalia Children's Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Wietske KieboomDepartment of Pediatrics, Radboud University Medical Center, Amalia Children's Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Anita D M HoogendoornDepartment of Pediatrics, Radboud University Medical Center, Amalia Children's Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Stijn L BerendsenDepartment of Pediatrics, Radboud University Medical Center, Amalia Children's Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Julia HaerkensDepartment of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Marieke M E van der MadenDepartment of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0006-0770-9292
Eva HrubaDepartment of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
Devin VeermanApplied Stem Cell Technologies Group, Department of Bioengineering Technologies, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0003-5191-0434
Anja BufeEye Health & Research Beyond Borders, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-3427-3413
Seba AlmedawarEye Health & Research Beyond Borders, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany.
Andries D van der MeerApplied Stem Cell Technologies Group, Department of Bioengineering Technologies, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-8761-4077
Tomas BartaDepartment of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.ORCID 0000-0003-0703-066X
Rob W J CollinDepartment of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Alejandro GarantoDepartment of Pediatrics, Radboud University Medical Center, Amalia Children's Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. alex.garanto@radboudumc.nl.ORCID 0000-0001-5721-1560

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal organoids (ROs) have become promising personalized models to study inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) and develop new therapies. Although ROs mimic key retinal features and show some light responsiveness, their differentiation and maturation remain limited and lengthy. We hypothesize that standard dark culture conditions limit the expression of genes and proteins related to retinal function, delaying differentiation, and hindering disease modeling. Here, we investigate whether daily light exposure promotes photoreceptor maturation by exposing ROs to six hours of daily light starting from day 70 in vitro. Light conditioning accelerates differentiation of late-born cell types, especially rod photoreceptors, without signs of increased stress or cell death. Our findings suggest that daily light exposure enhances RO differentiation, opening avenues to investigate molecular and cellular phenotypes in IRDs and accelerate therapy development in more relevant functional models.

Indexed as

Cell DifferentiationInduced Pluripotent Stem CellsLightOrganoidsRetinaHumans

Identifiers

PMID42587093
PMCPMC13470357

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.