Differentiation of retinal progenitors by chemokine

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25670740
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Ophthalmology
• Research Institution: St. Marianna University School of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Hirotsu Chieko 聖マリアンナ医科大学, 医学部, 研究技術員 (90647174)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): Suzuki Noboru 聖マリアンナ医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (40235982)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: iPS細胞 / 網膜 / 視細胞 / ロドプシン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We previously reported establishment of cloned retinal progenitors which had ability to further differentiate into photoreceptor like cells by transfecting mouse induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells with pax6 gene which regulated early events in eye development. We used the cloned cell lines for analyzing differentiation requirement of retinal progenitors.
Flow cytometric analysis revealed that the retinal progenitor cell clones started to express CD73+, a marker of photoreceptor precursors, and reached their expression maximum at day 4 to day 5. At that time, some of the CD73 positive cells became to express CXCR4 on the cell surface. Real time RT-PCR and Immunocytochemistry disclosed that the retinal progenitor cell clones differentiated into rhodopsin positive photoreceptors, and the differentiation was reinforced by the addition of exogenous SDF1. These results suggest that retinal progenitor cell differentiation was at least in part regulated by the SDF1/CXCR4.

Free Research Field

再生医学