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Targeting the cAMP and Transforming Growth Factor-β Pathway Increases Proliferation to Promote Re-Epithelialization of Human Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium

Choudhary, P; Gutteridge, A; Impey, E; Storer, RI; Owen, RM; Whiting, PJ; Bictash, M; (2016) Targeting the cAMP and Transforming Growth Factor-β Pathway Increases Proliferation to Promote Re-Epithelialization of Human Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium. Stem Cells Translational Medicine , 5 (7) pp. 925-937. 10.5966/sctm.2015-0247. Green open access

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Abstract

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell integrity is critical to the maintenance of retinal function. Many retinopathies such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are caused by the degeneration or malfunction of the RPE cell layer. Replacement of diseased RPE with healthy, stem cell-derived RPE is a potential therapeutic strategy for treating AMD. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) differentiated into RPE progeny have the potential to provide an unlimited supply of cells for transplantation, but challenges around scalability and efficiency of the differentiation process still remain. Using hESC-derived RPE as a cellular model, we sought to understand mechanisms that could be modulated to increase RPE yield after differentiation. We show that RPE epithelialization is a density-dependent process, and cells seeded at low density fail to epithelialize. We demonstrate that activation of the cAMP pathway increases proliferation of dissociated RPE in culture, in part through inhibition of transforming growth factor-b (TGF-b) signaling. This results in enhanced uptake of epithelial identity, even in cultures seeded at low density. In line with these findings, targeted manipulation of the TGF-bpathway with small molecules produces an increase in efficiency of RPE re-epithelialization. Taken together, these data highlight mechanisms that promote epithelial fate acquisition in stem cellderived RPE. Modulation of these pathways has the potential to favorably impact scalability and clinical translation of hESC-derived RPE as a cell therapy.

Type: Article
Title: Targeting the cAMP and Transforming Growth Factor-β Pathway Increases Proliferation to Promote Re-Epithelialization of Human Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.5966/sctm.2015-0247
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.5966/sctm.2015-0247
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © AlphaMed Press 2016. This is the accepted manuscript version of the article published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine; the published article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.5966/sctm.2015-0247
Keywords: Retinal pigment epithelium; Stem cells; Proliferation; cAMP; Transforming growth factor-b
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Department of Neuromuscular Diseases
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1493058
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