Amniotic fluid promotes the appearance of neural retinal progenitors and neurons in human RPE cell cultures.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are capable of differentiating into retinal neurons when induced by the appropriate growth factors. Amniotic fluid contains a variety of growth factors that are crucial for the development of a fetus. In this study, the effects of human amniotic fluid (HAF) on primary RPE cell cultures were evaluated.

METHODS:

RPE cells were isolated from the globes of postnatal human cadavers. The isolated cells were plated and grown in DMEM/F12 with 10% fetal bovine serum. To confirm the RPE identity of the cultured cells, they were immunocytochemically examined for the presence of the RPE cell-specific marker RPE65. RPE cultures obtained from passages 2-7 were treated with HAF and examined morphologically for 1 month. To determine whether retinal neurons or progenitors developed in the treated cultures, specific markers for bipolar (protein kinase C isomer α, PKCα), amacrine (cellular retinoic acid-binding protein I, CRABPI), and neural progenitor (NESTIN) cells were sought, and the amount of mRNA was quantified using real-time PCR.

RESULTS:

Treating RPE cells with HAF led to a significant decrease in the number of RPE65-positive cells, while PKCα- and CRABPI-positive cells were detected in the cultures. Compared with the fetal bovine serum-treated cultures, the levels of mRNAs quantitatively increased by 2-, 20- and 22-fold for NESTIN, PKCα, and CRABPI, respectively. The RPE cultures treated with HAF established spheres containing both pigmented and nonpigmented cells, which expressed neural progenitor markers such as NESTIN.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study showed that HAF can induce RPE cells to transdifferentiate into retinal neurons and progenitor cells, and that it provides a potential source for cell-based therapies to treat retinal diseases.

• Authors: Maliheh Davari, Zahra-Soheila Soheili, Hamid Ahmadieh, Fateme Sanie-Jahromi, Shima Ghaderi, Mozhgan Rezaei Kanavi, Shahram Samiei, Hassan Akrami, Massoud Haghighi, Fahimeh Javidi-Azad
• Journal: Molecular vision (Mol Vis) Vol. 19 Pg. 2330-42 ( 2013) ISSN: 1090-0535 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 24265548 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Biomarkers

Topics

• Amniotic Fluid (cytology)
• Animals
• Biomarkers (metabolism)
• Cattle
• Cell Proliferation
• Cell Shape
• Cells, Cultured
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
• Female
• Humans
• Immunohistochemistry
• Neural Stem Cells (cytology, metabolism)
• Retinal Neurons (cytology, metabolism)
• Retinal Pigment Epithelium (cytology)
• Spheroids, Cellular (cytology)
• Up-Regulation