Modeling early retinal development with human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells.

PubMed ID: 19706890

Author(s): Meyer JS, Shearer RL, Capowski EE, Wright LS, Wallace KA, McMillan EL, Zhang SC, Gamm DM. Modeling early retinal development with human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Sep 29;106(39):16698-703. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0905245106. Epub 2009 Aug 25. PMID 19706890

Journal: Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, Volume 106, Issue 39, Sep 2009

Human pluripotent stem cells have the potential to provide comprehensive model systems for the earliest stages of human ontogenesis. To serve in this capacity, these cells must undergo a targeted, stepwise differentiation process that follows a normal developmental timeline. Here we demonstrate the ability of both human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to meet these requirements for human retinogenesis. Upon differentiation, hESCs initially yielded a highly enriched population of early eye field cells. Thereafter, a subset of cells acquired features of advancing retinal differentiation in a sequence and time course that mimicked in vivo human retinal development. Application of this culture method to a human iPS cell line also generated retina-specific cell types at comparable times in vitro. Lastly, altering endogenous signaling during differentiation affected lineage-specific gene expression in a manner consistent with established mechanisms of early neural and retinal cell fate determination. These findings should aid in the investigation of the molecular events governing retinal specification from human pluripotent stem cells.