Majlinda Lako

The paper develops vascular organoids that integrate into retinal organoids, revealing diabetic retinopathy-like gene expression patterns in endothelial-like cells.

This study shows that rhythmic light flicker improves photoreceptor maturation in human retinal organoids by enhancing structural development, transcriptional transition, and functional connectivity.

The paper examines gene expression changes in hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes with TOP2B deletion or treated with topobexin, showing topobexin phenocopies TOP2B knockout.

This paper develops a xeno-free human iPSC-derived prostate organoid platform that enables multilineage differentiation and genetic manipulation for studying prostate biology and disease.

This study shows that high mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy in human organoids with the m.3243A>G mutation causes cortical neuronal disturbances, including axonal degeneration and apoptosis, similar to MELAS patients.

This study shows that the CFH Y402H variant makes choriocapillaris endothelial cells more susceptible to oxidative stress and complement dysregulation, linking these factors to AMD pathogenesis.

This study identifies a unified mechanism linking retinal waves, apoptosis, and angiogenesis in postnatal mouse retina through purinergic signaling and microglial interactions.

This study demonstrates that AAV-mediated PRPF31 gene therapy restores splicing homeostasis and rescues RP11 phenotypes in patient-derived RPE and retinal organoids.

STExplorer applies computational geography methods to spatial transcriptomics data to uncover spatially resolved patterns and heterogeneity.

This paper demonstrates that analyzing corneal epithelial cell area distributions can serve as a sensitive diagnostic tool for monitoring limbal stem cell deficiency post-transplant.

This study presents the first single-cell spatio-temporal transcriptome of human retinal organoid development using single-cell RNA-Seq and spatial transcriptomics, revealing key developmental events and chromatin accessibility patterns.

This study shows that transplanted pluripotent stem cell-derived cone precursors can restore light responses in mice with advanced retinal degeneration, despite low engraftment.

This paper generates a single-cell atlas of the human cornea across development and disease, identifying key cell types, markers, and interactions that inform stem cell maintenance and disease mechanisms.

This study shows that AAV-mediated gene augmentation therapy can restore critical functions in PRPF31 mutant iPSC-derived RPE cells, providing proof-of-concept for treating PRPF31-related retinitis pigmentosa.

The paper generates patient-specific retinal organoids and RPE from RP type 11 patients to show PRPF31 mutations cause retinal-specific splicing defects and structural/functional impairments, which are corrected by in situ gene editing.