Cellular transplantation for photoreceptor replacement in retinal disease is limited by poor distribution, survival and integration of cells in vivo after standard delivery in saline vehicle. We were interested in addressing each of these barriers in order to improve transplant efficacy. To this end, we designed the first injectable biomaterial-based cell delivery vehicle to transplant adult stem cell progeny into the subretinal space of adult retina. A minimally-invasive and bio-resorbable blend of hyaluronan and methylcellulose (HAMC) was found to overcome cellular aggregation and non-contiguous distribution. The ability to direct stem cell differentiation toward a particular retinal lineage is another challenge facing clinical application. We showed that prospectively and clonally isolated multipotent mouse and human retinal stem cells (RSCs) could be directed toward a mature rod photoreceptor fate with the highest efficiency reported to date (>90%). Combinations of taurine and retinoic acid directed rod differentiation similar to rod development in vivo. RSC-derived rods exhibited morphology, protein and gene expression consistent with primary cultures of rods in vitro. When combined with the HAMC delivery vehicle, greater cell survival and improved integration of post-mitotic RSC-derived rods was observed in vivo compared to saline delivery. Improved donor rod survival was ascribed to the CD44 receptor – HAMC interaction in vitro and in vivo. Combined with HAMC delivery, disruption of the glial limiting membrane improved cell integration and resulted in the highest levels of integration of adult stem cell-derived rod photoreceptors relative to previous reports in the literature. Mature rod-lineage committed cells demonstrated higher integration potential compared to immature rods in this context. The integrated cells expressed Rhodopsin and elaborated outer segments. In the absence of the glial limiting membrane, rod integration depended on pro-survival signals from the environment. This work demonstrates that adult RSCs show promise for regenerative medicine strategies in the adult retina.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OTU.1807/35773 |
| Date | 02 August 2013 |
| Creators | Ballios, Brian |
| Contributors | van der Kooy, Derek, Shoichet, Molly |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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