ABSTRACT
Background and Objectives@#Retinal stem cells (RSCs) resided in ciliary epithelium have shown to possess a high ca-pacity to self-renew and differentiate into retinal cells. RSCs could be induced to differentiate when they are exposed to stimuli like natural compounds and suitable contexts such as biomaterials. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of Retinol and alginate/gelatin-based scaffolds on differentiation potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) originated from mouse ciliary epithelium. @*Methods@#and Results: MSCs were extracted from mouse ciliary epithelium, and their identity was verified by detecting specific surface antigens. To provide a three-dimensional in vitro culture system, 2% alginate, 0.5% gelatin and the mixed alginate-gelatin hydrogels were fabricated and checked by SEM. Retinol treatment was performed on MSCs expanded on alginate/gelatin hydrogels and the survival rate and the ability of MSCs to differentiate were examined through measuring expression alterations of retina-specific genes by ICC and qPCR. The cell population isolated from ciliary epithelium contained more than 93.4% cells positive for MSC-specific marker CD105. Alginate/gelatin scaffolds showed to provide an acceptable viability (over 70%) for MSC cultures. Retinol treatment could induce a high expression of rhodopsin protein in MSCs expanded in alginate and alginate-gelatin mixtures. An elevated presentation of Nestin, RPE65 and Rhodopsin genes was detected in retinol-treated cultures expanded on alginate and alginate-gelatin scaffolds. @*Conclusions@#The results presented here elucidate that retinol treatment of MSCs grown on alginate scaffolds would promote the mouse ciliary epithelium-derived MSCs to differentiate towards retinal neurons.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to compare irrational beliefs, defense mechanisms and marital satisfaction in fertile and infertile women. This study was a causal comparative survey performed on 30 fertile and 30 infertile women chosen by available and simple random sampling out of the whole clients referred to Vali-e-Asr Reproductive Health Research Center from February 2009 to September 2009. The instruments of measurement included 3 questionnaires: Jones irrational beliefs, defense mechanisms and ENRICH marital satisfaction which were performed on samples. Data were analyzed by SPSS-16 software. The scale of subtests of Jones irrational beliefs, defense mechanisms and marital satisfaction were significantly different in fertile and infertile women. The results of this study showed that infertile women use irrational beliefs and defense mechanisms more than fertile women and their marital satisfaction is less than fertile women