Molecular analysis of the stem cell nature in the amphibian model of retinal regeneration

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26440125
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Developmental biology
• Research Institution: Nara Medical University (2015-2017); Nara Women's University (2014)
• Principal Investigator: Araki Masasuke 奈良県立医科大学, 医学部, 研究員 (00118449)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 小林 千余子 奈良県立医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (20342785)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 網膜再生 / 網膜色素上皮細胞 / 虹彩 / Xenopsu / ブタ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Amphibians are able to regenerate the whole retinal tissue when surgically removed. This ability had been considered to be limited only to the urodeles until Araki's group discovered that the complete regeneration occurs also in Xenopus. We established different organ-culture systems in which the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells transdifferentiate into retinal cells. In the present study, we analyzed the interaction of RPE cells and basement membrane and the initiation of inflammatory response. The results indicate that inflammatory cytokines induce Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) gene expression, which subsequently induces RPE cells to detach from the basement membrane. We also attempted to reveal the stem cell nature of the porcine iris tissue-derived cells by using the Matrigel embedding culture, and found that immediately after transferred to the culture, these cells differentiate into neural cells. This will favor the future analysis of stem cell nature of porcine RPE cells.

Free Research Field

発生生物学