Retinoic acid induces differentiation of cochlear neural progenitor cells into hair cells

INTRODUCTION: Inner ear progenitor cells have the potential for multi-directional differentiation. Retinoic acid is an important requirement for the development of the inner ear. Blocking the Curtyr's retinoic acid signaling pathway can significantly reduce the number of hair cells. Therefore, we believe that retinoic acid may induce the regeneration of inner ear hair cells. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the cochlear neural progenitor cells maintain the characteristics of stem cells during recovery and subculture, whether retinoic acid can induce cochlear neural progenitor cells into hair cells in vitro, and whether retinoic acid promotes or inhibits the proliferation of cochlear neural progenitor cells during differentiation. METHODS: Cochlear neural progenitor cells were cultured and induced in DMEM/F12 + RA (10(−6) M) and then detected the expressions of hair cell markers (Math1 and MyosinVIIa) by immunofluorescence cytochemistry and realtime-polymerase chain reaction, and the proliferation of cochlear neural progenitor cells was detected by Brdu. RESULTS: The nestin of cochlear neural progenitor cells was positively expressed. The ratios of Math1-positive cells in the control group and experimental group were 1.5% and 63%, respectively; the ratios of MyosinVIIa-positive cells in the control group and experimental group were 0.96% and 56%, respectively (p < 0.05). The ratios of Brdu(+)-labeled cells in retinoic acid group, group PBS, and group FBS were 20.6%, 29.9%, and 54.3%, respectively; however, the proliferation rate in the experimental group decreased. CONCLUSION: Retinoic acid can promote cochlear neural progenitor cells to differentiate into the hair cells.