Differentiation of Stem Cells from Human Exfoliated Deciduous Teeth into Retinal Photoreceptor-Like Cells and Their Sustainability In Vivo

Figure 3

Characteristics of expression profiles of gene and protein biomarkers in photoreceptor-like cells derived from SHEDs after retinal induction. (a)–(c) Immunofluorescence images showing SHEDs expressing the retina-related neural markers tau (a) and GluR2 (c), the retina-related neural markers Otx2 (a) and AIPL1 (c), and the photoreceptor precursor marker recoverin (b) on day 17. (e)-(f) The rod marker rhodopsin (e) and the cone marker opsin (f) were detected on day 24, as were Otx2 (d), tau (d), GluR (f), and recoverin (e). Scale bars: 20 μm. (g)–(i) q-PCR analysis showing that relative gene expression of the retinal progenitor markers PAX6, RAX, and VSX2 was upregulated, along with the retinal neural markers OTX2 and AIPL1 (g). The photoreceptor precursor markers RCVRN, CRX, and NRL showed an increasing trend, and the rod marker RHO and the cone marker OPN1SW were highly expressed at the final stage of induction (h). In addition, there was an increasing trend in the expression of the proneural markers NEUROD1 and ASCL1, but a decreasing trend in the expression of the neural crest cell marker NES (i) (, , , and ). (j) Flow cytometry analysis showing the percentages positive for recoverin, rhodopsin, or both of them.