Grafted c-kit(+)/SSEA1(−) eye-wall progenitor cells delay retinal degeneration in mice by regulating neural plasticity and forming new graft-to-host synapses

BACKGROUND: Despite diverse pathogenesis, the common pathological change observed in age-related macular degeneration and in most hereditary retinal degeneration (RD) diseases is photoreceptor loss. Photoreceptor replacement by cell transplantation may be a feasible treatment for RD. The major obstacles to clinical translation of stem cell-based cell therapy in RD remain the difficulty of obtaining sufficient quantities of appropriate and safe donor cells and the poor integration of grafted stem cell-derived photoreceptors into the remaining retinal circuitry. METHODS: Eye-wall c-kit(+)/stage-specific embryonic antigen 1 (SSEA1)(−) cells were isolated via fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and their self-renewal and differentiation potential were detected by immunochemistry and flow cytometry in vitro. After labeling with quantum nanocrystal dots and transplantation into the subretinal space of rd1 RD mice, differentiation and synapse formation by daughter cells of the eye-wall c-kit(+)/SSEA1(−) cells were evaluated by immunochemistry and western blotting. Morphological changes of the inner retina of rd1 mice after cell transplantation were demonstrated by immunochemistry. Retinal function of rd1 mice that received cell grafts was tested via flash electroretinograms and the light/dark transition test. RESULTS: Eye-wall c-kit(+)/SSEA1(−) cells were self-renewing and clonogenic, and they retained their proliferative potential through more than 20 passages. Additionally, eye-wall c-kit(+)/SSEA1(−) cells were capable of differentiating into multiple retinal cell types including photoreceptors, bipolar cells, horizontal cells, amacrine cells, Müller cells, and retinal pigment epithelium cells and of transdifferentiating into smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells in vitro. The levels of synaptophysin and postsynaptic density-95 in the retinas of eye-wall c-kit(+)/SSEA1(−) cell-transplanted rd1 mice were significantly increased at 4 weeks post transplantation. The c-kit(+)/SSEA1(−) cells were capable of differentiating into functional photoreceptors that formed new synaptic connections with recipient retinas in rd1 mice. Transplantation also partially corrected the abnormalities of inner retina of rd1 mice. At 4 and 8 weeks post transplantation, the rd1 mice that received c-kit(+)/SSEA1(−) cells showed significant increases in a-wave and b-wave amplitude and the percentage of time spent in the dark area. CONCLUSIONS: Grafted c-kit(+)/SSEA1(−) cells restored the retinal function of rd1 mice via regulating neural plasticity and forming new graft-to-host synapses. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-016-0451-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.