Optic vesicle-like structures derived from human pluripotent stem cells facilitate a customized approach to retinal disease treatment.

ABSTRACT: Differentiation methods for human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) typically yield progeny from multiple tissue lineages, limiting their use for drug testing and autologous cell transplantation. In particular, early retina and forebrain derivatives often intermingle in pluripotent stem cell cultures, owing to their shared ancestry and tightly coupled development. Here, we demonstrate that three-dimensional populations of retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) can be isolated from early forebrain populations in both human embryonic stem cell and hiPSC cultures, providing a valuable tool for developmental, functional, and translational studies. Using our established protocol, we identified a transient population of optic vesicle (OV)-like structures that arose during a time period appropriat

SUBMITTER: Meyer JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3412675 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature