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Stem Cell Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium: The Role of Pigmentation as Maturation Marker and Gene Expression Profile Comparison with Human Endogenous Retinal Pigment Epithelium.

ABSTRACT: In age-related macular degeneration (AMD) the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) deteriorates, leading to photoreceptor decay and severe vision loss. New therapeutic strategies aim at RPE replacement by transplantation of pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-derived RPE. Several protocols to generate RPE have been developed where appearance of pigmentation is commonly used as indicator of RPE differentiation and maturation. It is, however, unclear how different pigmentation stages reflect developmental stages and functionality of PSC-derived RPE cells. We generated human embryonic stem cell-derived RPE (hESC-RPE) cells and investigated their gene expression profiles at early pigmentation (EP) and late pigmentation (LP) stages. In addition, we compared the hESC-RPE samples with human endogenous RPE. We used a common reference design microarray (44 K). Our analysis showed that maturing hESC-RPE, upon acquiring pigmentation, expresses markers specific for human RPE. Interestingly, our analysis revealed that EP and LP hESC-RPE do not differ much in gene expression. Our data further showed that pigmented hESC-RPE has a significant lower expression than human endogenous RPE in the visual cycle and oxidative stress pathways. In contrast, we observed a significantly higher expression of pathways related to the process adhesion-to-polarity model that is typical of developing epithelial cells. We conclude that, in vitro, the first appearance of pigmentation hallmarks differentiated RPE. However, further increase in pigmentation does not result in much significant gene expression changes and does not add important RPE functionalities. Consequently, our results suggest that the time span for obtaining differentiated hESC-RPE cells, that are suitable for transplantation, may be greatly reduced.

SUBMITTER: Bennis A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5602068 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Stem Cell Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium: The Role of Pigmentation as Maturation Marker and Gene Expression Profile Comparison with Human Endogenous Retinal Pigment Epithelium.

Bennis A A Jacobs J G JG Catsburg L A E LAE Ten Brink J B JB Koster C C Schlingemann R O RO van Meurs J J Gorgels T G M F TGMF Moerland P D PD Heine V M VM Bergen A A AA

Stem cell reviews and reports 20171001 5

In age-related macular degeneration (AMD) the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) deteriorates, leading to photoreceptor decay and severe vision loss. New therapeutic strategies aim at RPE replacement by transplantation of pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-derived RPE. Several protocols to generate RPE have been developed where appearance of pigmentation is commonly used as indicator of RPE differentiation and maturation. It is, however, unclear how different pigmentation stages reflect developmental sta ...[more]

PMID: 28730556

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Project description:The therapeutic potential of pluripotent stem cells is great as they promise to Q7 usher in a new era of medicine where cells or organs may be prescribed to replace dysfunctional tissue. At the forefront are efforts in the eye to develop Q8 this technology as it lends itself to in vivo monitoring and sophisticated imaging modalities. In the retina, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is the most promising replacement cell as it has a single layer, is relatively simple to transplant, and is associated with dozens of eye diseases. However, after transplantation, they may transform and cause complications. This transformation may be partially due to incomplete maturation. With the goal of learning how to mature RPE, we compared iPSC-RPE with adult primary RPE and the immortalized ARPE-19 line. We cultured ARPE-19, iPSC-RPE, and adult human RPE for one month, evaluating morphology, RPE marker staining, and transepithelial electrical resistance as quality control indicators. We then isolated RNA for bulk RNAsequencing and DNA for genotyping. We genotyped adult RPE lines for the top age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) risk allele polymorphisms. Transcriptome data verified that both adult and iPSC-RPE exhibit similar RPE gene expression signatures, significantly more than ARPE-19. In addition, in iPSC-RPE, gene networks relating to epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), stem cell maintenance, retina development, and muscle contraction were significantly elevated compared to those of adult RPE. We compared adult human RPE to iPSC-RPE in a model of EMT and observed an increased sensitivity of iPSC-RPE to producing contractile aggregates in vitro which resembles incident reports upon transplantation. P38 inhibition was capable of inhibiting iPSC-RPE–derived aggregates. In summary, we find that the transcriptomic signature of iPSC-RPE conveys an immature RPE state which may be ameliorated by targeting “immature” gene regulatory networks.

Dataset Information

Stem Cell Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium: The Role of Pigmentation as Maturation Marker and Gene Expression Profile Comparison with Human Endogenous Retinal Pigment Epithelium.

Publications

Stem Cell Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium: The Role of Pigmentation as Maturation Marker and Gene Expression Profile Comparison with Human Endogenous Retinal Pigment Epithelium.

Similar Datasets

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