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Effects of Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor on Differentiation of Late Retinal Progenitor Cells

^a Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and
^b Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Orange, California, USA

Key Words. Retinal progenitor cells • Ciliary neurotrophic factor • Bipolar • Glial • Differentiation

Correspondence: Michael J. Young, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, 20 Staniford Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. Telephone: 617–912–7419; fax: 617–912–0101; e-mail: mikey{at}vision.eri.harvard.edu

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) has been shown to be a potent regulator of retinal cell differentiation. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of CNTF on in vitro differentiation of expanded late retinal progenitor cells. Retinal progenitor cells used in these studies were isolated from the neural retina of postnatal day-1 green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mice. The resulting GFP-positive neurospheres were dissociated into a single-cell suspension and grown on poly-D-lysine/laminin-coated tissue culture flasks or slides to generate adherent retinal progenitor cells. These adherent cells were treated with 20 ng/ml of CNTF for up to 14 days, and expression of specific retinal cell markers was determined by immunocytochemistry, reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and immunoblot analysis. In vitro studies showed that CNTF treatment of late retinal progenitor cells resulted in changes in cellular morphology. Immunocytochemical studies showed an increase in the proportion of cells expressing markers of bipolar cells but not rod differentiation. In addition, an increase in the proportion of cells expressing glial cell markers was observed. RT-PCR analysis showed downregulation in Hes1, Nestin, Notch1, and Pax6 transcripts along with a concomitant increase in protein kinase C (PKC) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) transcripts. These findings were confirmed by immunoblot analysis, where downregulation in Nestin expression and simultaneous upregulation in PKC and GFAP were observed. The data indicate that CNTF treatment of multipotential late retinal progenitors increases the proportion of cells that express markers of bipolar neurons and glia.