Identification of small Sca-1+, Lin−, CD45− multipotential cells in the neonatal murine retina

Liu, Yongqing; Gao, Ling; Zuba-Surma, Ewa K.; Peng, Xiaoyan; Kucia, Magdalena; Ratajczak, Mariusz Z.; Wang, Wei; Enzman, Volker; Kaplan, Henry J.; Dean, Douglas C.

doi:10.1016/j.exphem.2009.05.014

« Previous Next »Experimental Hematology
Volume 37, Issue 9 , Pages 1096-1107.e1, September 2009

Identification of small Sca-1⁺, Lin⁻, CD45⁻ multipotential cells in the neonatal murine retina

Yongqing Liu
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
- James Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
- Drs. Liu and Gao contributed equally to the studies.
Ling Gao
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Drs. Liu and Gao contributed equally to the studies.
Ewa K. Zuba-Surma
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
Xiaoyan Peng
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
Magdalena Kucia
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
Mariusz Z. Ratajczak
- Stem Cell Institute, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
Wei Wang
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
Volker Enzman
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
- Current address: Department of Ophthalmology, Inselspital, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland.
Henry J. Kaplan
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
Douglas C. Dean
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
- James Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, Louisville, Ky., USA
- Offprint requests to: Douglas C. Dean, Ph.D., University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, 301 E. Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40202

Received 14 April 2009; received in revised form 21 May 2009; accepted 29 May 2009. published online 18 June 2009.

Objective

Bone marrow contains a subset of stem cells that give rise to nonhematopoietic lineages. These nonhematopoietic stem cells appear heterogeneous and contain cells committed to mesenchymal and endothelial lineages, as well as more primitive multipotential cells resembling progenitors of germ cells and very small embryonic/epiblast-like stem cells (VSELs). Nonhematopoietic stem cells can be mobilized from the bone marrow in response to tissue injury, and cells with similar properties have been found in cord blood and normal adult organs. However, the relationship between bone marrow cells and these adult organ stem cells is still unclear. The differentiation potential of some adult stem cells is organ-restricted, but other populations appear to retain multipotential capacity.

Materials and Methods

A population of small Sca-1⁺, lineage-negative (Lin⁻), CD45⁻ cells resembling VSELs were isolated from neonatal mouse retina by cell sorting. Differentiation of the cells in culture was achieved by exposure to embryonic stem cell differentiation protocols.

Results

VSEL-like cells comprise 1.5% of the neonatal mouse retina. They remain quiescent during retinal differentiation, and thus they do not contribute to normal retinal development. However, they display eye cell differentiation potential in culture and they are also multipotential and can give rise to cells representative of all three embryonic layers.