Author/Authors :
Akrami, Hassan tarbiat modares university - Faculty of Basic Sciences, تهران, ايران , Soheili, Zahra-Soheila National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, ايران , Khalooghi, Keynoush National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, ايران , Khalooghi, Keynoush kharazmi university (university of tarbiat moallem), تهران, ايران , Ahmadieh, Hamid shahid beheshti university - Ophthalmic Research Center, تهران, ايران , Rezaie-Kanavi, Mojgan shahid beheshti university - Ophthalmic Research Center, تهران, ايران , Samiei, Shahram Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization Research Center, ايران , Davari, Malihe National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, ايران , Ghaderi, Shima National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, ايران , Sanie-Jahromi, Fatemeh National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, ايران
Abstract :
Purpose: To establish human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell culture as a source forcell replacement therapy in ocular diseases.Methods: Human cadaver globes were used to isolate RPE cells. Each globe was cut intoseveral pieces of a few millimeters in size. After removing the sclera and choroid,remaining tissues were washed in phosphate buffer saline and RPE cells were isolatedusing dispase enzyme solution and cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium:Nutrient Mixture F-12 supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum.Results: Primary cultures of RPE cells were established and spheroid colonies related toprogenitor/stem cells developed in a number of cultures. The colonies included purelypigmented or mixed pigmented and non-pigmented cells. After multiple cellular passages,several types of photoreceptors and neural-like cells were detected morphologically.Conclusion: Cellular plasticity in RPE cell cultures revealed promising results in termsof generation of stem/progenitor cells from human RPE cells. Whether the spheroidsand neural-like retinal cells were directly derived from retinal stem cells or offspring oftrans-differentiating or de-differentiating RPE cells remains to be answered
