Neural stem cells in the adult ciliary epithelium express GFAP and are regulated by Wnt signaling
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-5840 (United States)
- Eppley Institute for Cancer Research, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-6805 (United States)
The identification of neural stem cells with retinal potential in the ciliary epithelium (CE) of the adult mammals is of considerable interest because of their potential for replacing or rescuing degenerating retinal neurons in disease or injury. The evaluation of such a potential requires characterization of these cells with regard to their phenotypic properties, potential, and regulatory mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate that rat CE stem cells/progenitors in neurosphere culture display astrocytic nature in terms of expressing glial intermediate neurofilament protein, GFAP. The GFAP-expressing CE stem cells/progenitors form neurospheres in proliferating conditions and generate neurons when shifted to differentiating conditions. These cells express components of the canonical Wnt pathway and its activation promotes their proliferation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the activation of the canonical Wnt pathway influences neuronal differentiation of CE stem cells/progenitors in a context dependent manner. Our observations suggest that CE stem cells/progenitors share phenotypic properties and regulatory mechanism(s) with neural stem cells elsewhere in the adult CNS.
- OSTI ID:
- 20798750
- Journal Information:
- Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Vol. 339, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.11.064; PII: S0006-291X(05)02572-6; Copyright (c) 2005 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0006-291X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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