Expression of Multipotent and Retinal Markers in Pigment Epithelium of Adult Human in Vitro

Immunoperoxidase and molecular genetic analysis showed that retinal pigment epithelial cells from adult human eye undergo morphogenetic changes in vitro. They lose expression of tissue-specific protein RPE65 and start to express stem cell markers: Oct4 (POU5F1), Nanog, Prox1, Musashi 1, and Pax6, which indicates their differentiation. Expression of Musashi 1 and Pax6 attest to neural differentiation, which is also confirmed by the expression of βIII-tubulin, a neuroblast marker, and markers of differentiated neuronal cells, tyrosine hydroxylase and neurofilament proteins. These findings attest to the capacity of retinal pigment epithelium from adult human eye to transdifferentiation into neural lineage cells, which makes them an interesting object for cell therapy in neurodegeneration.