Transplantation Efficacy of Human Ciliary Epithelium Cells from Fetal Eye and Lin-ve Stem Cells from Umbilical Cord Blood in the Murine Retinal Degeneration Model of Laser Injury

A number of degenerative conditions affecting the neural retina including age-related macular degeneration have no successful treatment, resulting in partial or complete vision loss. There are a number of stem cell replacement strategies for recovery of retinal damage using cells from variable sources. However, literature is still deficit in the comparison of efficacy of types of stem cells. The purpose of the study was to compare the therapeutic efficacy of undifferentiated cells, i.e., lineage negative stem cells (Lin-ve SC) with differentiated neurosphere derived from ciliary epithelium (CE) cells on retinal markers associated with laser-induced retinal injury. Laser-induced photocoagulation was carried out to disrupt Bruch’s membrane and retinal pigmented epithelium in C57BL/6 mouse model. Lineage negative cells were isolated from human umbilical cord blood, whereas neurospheres were derived from CE of post-aborted human eyeballs. The cells were then transplanted into subretinal space to study their effect on injury. Markers of neurotropic factors, retina, apoptosis, and proliferation were analyzed after injury and transplantation. mRNA expression was also analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction at 1 week, and 3-month immunohistochemistry was evaluated at 1-week time point. CE cell transplantation showed enhanced differentiation of rods and retinal glial cells. However, Lin-ve cells exerted paracrine-dependent modulation of neurotrophic factors, which is possibly mediated by antiapoptotic and proliferative effects. In conclusion, CE transplantation showed superior regenerative outcome in comparison to Lin-ve SC for rescue of artificially injured rodent retinal cells. It is imperative that this source for transplantation may be extensively studied in various doses and additional retinal degeneration models for prospective clinical applications.