The supportive role of interferon‐γ in retinal differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells

Abstract

PurposeRetinal disorders represent a serious health problem causing a decreased quality of vision or even blindness. There are currently no effective treatment protocols for these disorders. The promising approach for the treatment of retinal disorders is stem cell‐based therapy. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a perspective candidate due to their possibility to migrate to the site of injury, differentiate into multiple cell types and produce a number of trophic factors. In this study we analysed the potential of murine bone marrow‐derived MSCs to differentiate into cells expressing retinal markers and tested the possibility to express neurotrophic factors by differentiated MSCs.MethodsFlow cytometry was use to characterize the phenotypic markers of murine MSCs isolated from bone marrow. The retinal extract were prepared by homogenization of posterior segments of the mouse eyes and the supernatants were prepared by stimulation of spleen cells with Concanavalin A. MSCs were cultured with retinal extract and supernatants simulating the environment of retinal damaged for 7 days. The expression of genes for retinal markers and growth factors by MSCs was detected using real‐time PCR.ResultsMSCs cultured with retinal extract and supernatant differentiated to the cells expressing retinal cell markers. To identify a supportive molecule in the supernatant from activated spleen cells, MSCs were cultured with retinal extract in the presence of various T‐cell cytokines. The expression of retinal markers was enhanced only in the presence of IFN‐γ, and the supportive role of spleen cell supernatants was abrogated with the neutralization antibody anti‐IFN‐γ.ConclusionsThe results show the supportive role of IFN‐γ in differentiation of MSCs to the cells expressing retinal cell markers and the enhanced ability of differentiated cells to express growth factors.