Role of Notch signaling in differentiation of retinal progenitor cells / 中南大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the role of Notch signaling in differentiation of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat retinal progenitor cells (RPCs).@*METHODS@#RPCs were isolated from 16-day embryonic SD rats and cultured in suspension. RPCs were cultured respectively in media with (treatment group) or without (control group) gamma-secretase inhibitor X which was used to block Notch signaling. Morphological observation and immunocytochemistry were applied at day 14 to determine the cell types and analyze the expression of Notch pathway genes in both groups.@*RESULTS@#Most RPCs expressed Notch1 intracellular domains or its downstream transcriptional factor Hes1. A few expressed bHLH transcriptional factors NeuroD and Mash1. Most auto-differentiated RPCs expressed NeuroD or Mash1, while a few of them expressed Notch1 intracellular domains or Hes1. In the group treated with gamma-secretase inhibitor X, the positive rate of Nestin or GFAP was much lower than that in the control group while the positive rate of beta-tubulin was much higher than that in the control group. The difference in the positive rate of recovering between the two groups was not significant.@*CONCLUSION@#In vitro Notch signaling may inhibit retinal stem cells differentiation. Inhibiting Notch signaling in vitro may promote differentiation to neurons and partially inhibit glial differentiation.