Optic Vesicle Structures Derived from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Facilitate a Customized Approach to Retinal Disease Treatment

Microarray anlaysis was performed to investigate gene expression patterns of other transcription factors involved in early retinal and/or forebrain development using human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal and forebrain progenitor cells. After 20 days of differentiation, vesicular neurospheres selectively expressed multiple retinal transcription factor genes appropriate for the OV stage of retinogenesis, whereas nonvesicular neurospheres expressed transcription factors indicative of the embryonic forebrain. Many transcription factor genes associated with retinal development were present at higher levels in vesicular vs. nonvesicular neurospheres. Nonvesicular neurospheres, on the other hand, expressed higher levels of transcription factors implicated in early forebrain development. Taken together, results indicated that the vesicular and nonvesicular neurospheres harbored retinal progenitor cells and early forebrain populations, respectively.

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Meyer JS, Howden SE, Wallace KA, Verhoeven AD, Wright LS, Capowski EE, Pinilla I, Martin JM, Tian S, Stewart R, Pattnaik B, Thomson JA, Gamm DM