Molecular profiling of stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial cell differentiation established for clinical translation.
Stem Cell Reports 2022;
17:1458-1475. [PMID:
35705015 PMCID:
PMC9214069 DOI:
10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.05.005]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2022] [Revised: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/13/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial cells (hESC-RPE) are a promising cell source to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Despite several ongoing clinical studies, a detailed mapping of transient cellular states during in vitro differentiation has not been performed. Here, we conduct single-cell transcriptomic profiling of an hESC-RPE differentiation protocol that has been developed for clinical use. Differentiation progressed through a culture diversification recapitulating early embryonic development, whereby cells rapidly acquired a rostral embryo patterning signature before converging toward the RPE lineage. At intermediate steps, we identified and examined the potency of an NCAM1+ retinal progenitor population and showed the ability of the protocol to suppress non-RPE fates. We demonstrated that the method produces a pure RPE pool capable of maturing further after subretinal transplantation in a large-eyed animal model. Our evaluation of hESC-RPE differentiation supports the development of safe and efficient pluripotent stem cell-based therapies for AMD.
Transcriptional analysis of hESC-RPE differentiation benchmarked to in vivo cells
NCAM1 emerges as a cell-surface marker of multipotent neuroepithelial progenitors
hESC-RPE cells are obtained through a divergence-convergence process
hESC-RPE further mature in vivo upon subretinal injection into the rabbit eye
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