title: Spheroid cultures promote the stemness of corneal stromal cells.
abstract: Several culture methods generated spheroids of rabbit and mouse corneal stromal cells (CSCs) in vitro. In this study, rabbit CSC spheroids were positively expressed the mesenchymal and stem cell phenotypes, which contained immunopositive for vimentin (a mesenchymal cell marker) and CD34 (a stem cell marker), as well as mRNA expression of nestin (a neural stem cell marker) and Nanog (a stem cell marker), in suspension or adherent cultures that were induced by methylcellulose, a rotary cell culture system (RCCS) or reprogramming proteins and VPA. Mouse CSCs showed poor growth and hardly formed spheroids after treatment with methylcellulose or reprogramming proteins and VPA. Our work has laid a promising foundation to elucidate CSCs and the further use of CSC spheroids for reprogramming, bioprinting and tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China; Ophthalmology Department, Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hongyang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine of Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology Department, Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jianchang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering Institute of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Rongjie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine of Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yonglong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China; Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine of Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China; Institute of Ophthalmology, Medical College, Jinan University, 601 West Huangpu Avenue, Guangzhou 510632, China. Electronic address: chenjiansu2000@163.com.
authors.forename: Jiansu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D003319:Corneal Stroma / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D051379:Mice; D000071317:Nanog Homeobox Protein; D064231:Nestin / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011817:Rabbits; D018874:Spheroids, Cellular / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D014746:Vimentin / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D018952:Antigens, CD34; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D000071317:Nanog Homeobox Protein; C475540:Nanog protein, mouse; D064231:Nestin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014746:Vimentin
keywords: Corneal stromal cells; Reprogramming protein; Simulated microgravity culture; Spheroid culture; Valproic acid