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Updated: May 17, 2026
Reconstruct Human Retinoblastoma In Vitro
Published on: October 11, 2022
Characterization and retinal neuron differentiation of WERI-Rb1 cancer stem cells
Huiling Hu1, Fei Deng, Ying Liu
1State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Purpose:
The evidence is increasing that cancer stem cells (CSCs) expressing embryonic and neuronal stem cell markers are present in human retinoblastoma (Rb). This study was conducted to determine whether stem-like cancer cells (SLCCs) in Rb express retinal stem cell-related genes and whether SLCCs can directly differentiate into retinal neurons.
Methods:
The cancer stem cell characteristics in WERI-Rb1 cells were determined with Hoechst 33,342 staining, clone formation assay, and CD133 flow cytometry. The expression of embryonic stem cell and retinal stem cell-related genes was analyzed with real-time PCR and immunofluorescence. The SLCCs were induced to differentiate into retinal neurons by the addition of Dickkopf-related protein 1 and Lefty-A.
Results:
A small but persistent population of cells excluding Hoechst dye in a verapamil-sensitive manner exhibited a cancer stem cell-like phenotype. The SLCCs displayed highly clonogenic abilities and increased CD133 expression with isolation and expansion in culture in serum-free medium. By comparing the expression of stem cell markers, we found Oct3/4 was more highly expressed in the SLCCs than in human embryonic stem cells. Together with the properties of intrinsic retinal stem cell-related gene expression, we found SLCCs can be induced into neuron-like cells that express glial fibrillary acidic protein and rhodopsin (a photoreceptor cell marker).
Conclusions:
These findings provide new insight into cancer stem cells and used a strategy of an artificial change of cancer stem cell fate with transcription factors.
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