Cell transplantation of retinal ganglion cells derived from hESCs

Glaucoma, the number one cause of irreversible blindness, is characterized by the loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which do not regenerate in humans or mammals after cell death. Cell transplantation provides an opportunity to restore vision in glaucoma, or other optic neuropathies. Since transplanting primary RGCs from deceased donor tissues may not be feasible, stem cell-derived RGCs could provide a plausible alternative source of donor cells for transplant.

We define a robust chemically defined protocol to differentiate human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into RGC-like neurons.

Human embryonic stem cell lines (H7-A81 and H9) and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) were used for RGC differentiation. RGC immaturity was measured by calcium imaging against muscimol. Cell markers were detected by immunofluorescence staining and qRT-PCR. RGC-like cells were intravitreally injected to rat eye, and co-stained with RBPMS and human nuclei markers. All experiments were conducted at least three times independently. Data were analyzed by ANOVA with Tukey's test with P value of <0.05 considered statistically significant.

We detected retinal progenitor markers Rx and Pax6 after 15 days of differentiation, and the expression of markers for RGC-specific differentiation (Brn3a and Brn3b), maturation (synaptophysin) and neurite growth (β-III-Tubulin) after an additional 15 days. We further examined the physiologic differentiation of these hESC-derived RGC-like progeny to those differentiated in vitro from primary rodent retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) with calcium imaging, and found that both populations demonstrate the immature RGC-like response to muscimol, a GABAA receptor agonist. By one week after transplant to the adult rat eye by intravitreal injection, the human RGC-like cells successfully migrated into the ganglion cell layer.

Our protocol provides a novel, short, and cost-effective approach for RGC differentiation from hESCs, and may broaden the scope for cell replacement therapy in RGC-related optic neuropathies such as glaucoma.