title: Basic fibroblast growth factor induces retinal pigment epithelium to generate neural retina in vitro.
abstract: During embryogenesis, the cells of the eye primordium are initially capable of giving rise to either neural retina or pigmented epithelium (PE), but become restricted to one of these potential cell fates. However, following surgical removal of the retina in embryonic chicks and larval amphibians, new neural retina is generated by the transdifferentiation, or phenotypic switching, of PE cells into neuronal progenitors. A recent study has shown that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) stimulates this process in chicks in vivo. To characterize further the mechanisms by which this factor regulates the phenotype of retinal tissues, we added bFGF to enzymatically dissociated chick embryo PE. We found that bFGF stimulated proliferation and caused several morphological changes in the PE, including the loss of pigmentation; however, no transdifferentiation to neuronal phenotypes was observed. By contrast, when small sheets of PE were cultured as aggregates on a shaker device, preventing flattening and spreading on the substratum, we found that a large number of retinal progenitor cells were generated from the PE treated with bFGF. These results indicate that bFGF promotes retinal regeneration in vitro, as well as in ovo, and suggest that the ability of chick PE to undergo transdifferentiation to neuronal progenitors appears to be dependent on the physical configuration of the cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pittack
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Reh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012160:Retina / Q000196:embryology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2