Project description:Aim: To generate human embryonic stem cell-derived corneal endothelial cells (hESC-CECs) for transplantation in patients with corneal endothelial dystrophies.
Project description:Gene expression studies of human embryonic stem cells undergoing directed differentiation to endothelial cells to identify key transcriptional changes during differentiation
Project description:Transplantation of ex vivo expanded limbal stem cells (LSC) is the main treatment for limbal stem cell deficiency though the clinical problem of donor tissues shortage. Recently, as the development of tissue engineering, embryonic stem cells (ESC) derived corneal epithelial-like cells (ESC-CEC) has become a new direction to this issue.Our group successfully induced ESC into corneal epithelial-like cells, and in the present study we explored various aspects of physiological properties of ESC-CEC. The experiment included three samples: hES, the human embryonic stem cell line H1, RA_SB, the corneal epithelial-like cells derived from hES by differentiation with RA and SB, epithelial_cell, the primary human limbal stem cells from cadaver eyes. hES, the human embryonic stem cell line H1, RA_SB, the corneal epithelial-like cells derived from hES by differentiation with RA and SB, epithelial_cell, the primary human limbal stem cells from cadaver eyes.
Project description:Microarray study comparing trabecular meshwork-derived cells (TMDCs) from the iridocorneal angle of the human eye, with other human cell types such as scleral fibroblasts, corneal fibroblasts, retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells, corneal stroma, human embryonic stem cells (hESC), neural precursors differentiated from hESC, human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVEC) cells and human adipose-tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC)
Project description:Microarray study comparing trabecular meshwork-derived cells (TMDCs) from the iridocorneal angle of the human eye, with other human cell types such as scleral fibroblasts, corneal fibroblasts, retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells, corneal stroma, human embryonic stem cells (hESC), neural precursors differentiated from hESC, human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVEC) cells and human adipose-tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) 19 samples were analysed, including 6 biological replicates of TMDC, 2 biological replicates of scleral fibroblasts, 3 biological replicates of hAd-MSC
Project description:The corneal endothelium plays a primary role in maintaining corneal homeostasis and clarity, and must be surgically replaced with allogenic donor corneal endothelium in the event of visually significant dysfunction. However, a worldwide shortage of donor corneal tissue has led to a search for alternative sources of transplantable tissue. Cultured human corneal endothelial cells (HCEnC) have been shown to restore corneal clarity in experimental models of corneal endothelial dysfunction in animal models, but characterization of cultured HCEnC remains incomplete. To this end, we utilized next-generation RNA sequencing technology to compare the transcriptomic profile of ex vivo human corneal endothelium (evHCEnC) with that of primary HCEnC and HCEnC lines, and to determine the utility of cultured and immortalized corneal endothelial cells as models of in vivo corneal endothelium. Multidimensional analyses of the transcriptome datasets demonstrated that primary HCEnC have a closer relationship to evHCEnC than do immortalized HCEnC. Subsequent analyses showed that the majority of the genes specifically expressed in HCEnC (not expressed in ex vivo corneal epithelium or fibroblasts) demonstrated a marked variability of expression in cultured cells compared with evHCEnC. In addition, genes associated with either corneal endothelial cell function or corneal endothelial dystrophies were investigated. Significant differences in gene expression and protein levels were observed in the cultured cells compared with evHCEnC for each of the genes tested except for AGBL1 and LOXHD1, which were not detected by RNA-seq or qPCR. Our transcriptomic analysis suggests that at a molecular level primary HCEnC most closely resemble evHCEC and thus represent a viable therapeutic option for managing corneal endothelial dysfunction. Our findings also suggest that investigators should perform an assessment of the entire transcriptome of cultured HCEnC prior to determination of the potential clinical utility of the cultured HCEnC for the management of corneal endothelial cell failure. Transcriptomes from ex vivo corneal endothelium, primary cultures and three cell lines were compared. Three samples of each endothelial cell group were submitted for RNA sequencing for a total of 15 samples. The transcriptome for the ex vivo corneal endothelium was used as the reference (i.e., proxy for in vivo corneal endothelium). Transcript abundances for a subset of genes associated with corneal endothelial cell function or disease were validated with qPCR and western blot. Samples of ex vivo endothelium used for validation were independent replicates not used for RNA-sequencing.