Y27632 induce trans-differentiation from retinal pigment epithelial cells into neuron-like cells in vitro

Abstract

Objective To investigate the feasibility of Y27632 to induce transdifferentiation from human retinal pigment epithelial(hRPE)cells into neuron-like cells in vitro.Methods The third to sixth generation of primary hRPE cells were cultured with 2% fetal bovine serum+Dulbecco's modified eagle medium/F12 culture solution,with(experimental group)or without(control group)10 μmol/L Y27632.At 3,6 hours and 1,3,5,7 days after induction,the morphologic changes of RPE cells were observed by inverted microscope.The expression rate of CK18,Map2,NF200 and Pax6 at 3 days after induction in the experimental and control group were detected by immunofluorescent staining.χ2 test was employed for comparison between the two groups.Results 50.1% cells of the experimental group formed axon-like processes and interconnected each other with typical neuron-like appearance.The expression rates of CK18,Map2,NF200 and Pax6 in the experimental group were 43.88% ,31.90% ,57.45% and 65.79% .while the above indexes in the control group were 93.97% ,4.49% ,22.37% and 8.33% respectively.Compared the expression rate of CK18(χ2=64.763),Map2(χ2=23.634),NF200(χ2=21.261)and Pax6(χ2=25.946)between the two groups,the differences were significant(P＜0.01).Conclusion The hRPE cells can be trans-differentiated into neuron-like cells in vitro bv Y27632. Key words: Pigment epithelium of eye/cytology; Neurons; Cell differentiation