Regenerative capacity of retinal cells and the maintenance of their differentiation

Mechanisms underlying cell type stability and the capacity of retinal cells for transdifferentiation are discussed. It is shown that cells of amphibian pigmented epithelium can be transformed into retina or lens cells depending on the inducing cell type: the influence of retina enables them to be transformed into retina, the influence of lens epithelium, to lens cells (lentoids or lenses). This led to an attempt to discover the molecular character of cell action by means of transfilter induction in early gastrula ectoderm of Xenopus laevis. The results show that the induced cell types correspond to the main inducing cell type, around which a range of neighbouring cell types is produced; this has been shown for five different cell types. The inducing factors involved seem to show qualitative differences. It is probable that they play a stabilizing role in the maintenance of the differentiated state of tissues, since temporary dissociation into cells leads eye tissues to transdifferentiate into other types. Such molecular factors can play a significant role in the maintenance of the type of differentiation and also in conversion into other cell types. These mechanisms of maintenance are not restricted to interactions between molecules and cells, since membranes on the surface of the retina and pigmented epithelium contribute to their shaping and consequently to the stability of the cell type.