title: Retina tissue engineering by conjunctiva mesenchymal stem cells encapsulated in fibrin gel: Hypotheses on novel approach to retinal diseases treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age related macular degeneration (AMD) are two retinal diseases that progress by photoreceptor cells death. In retinal transplantation studies, stem and progenitor cells inject into the sub retinal space or vitreous and then these cells can be migrate to the site of retinal degeneration and locate in the host retina and restitute vision.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our hypothesis suggests that using human conjunctiva stem cells (as the source for increasing the number of human stem cells progenitor cells in retina dysfunction diseases) with fibrin gel and also assessing its relating in vitro (cellular and molecular processes) and in vivo (vision tests and pathology) could be a promising strategy for treatment of AMD and RP disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this idea, we describe a novel approach for retina tissue engineering with differentiation of conjunctiva mesenchymal stem cells (CJMSCs) into photoreceptor-like cells in fibrin gel with induction medium contain taurine. For assessment of differentiation, immunocytochemistry and real time PCR are used for the expression of Rhodopsin, RPE65, Nestin as differentiated photoreceptor cell markers in 2D and 3D culture. The results show that fibrin gel will offer a proper 3D scaffold for CJMSCs derived photoreceptor cell-like cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Application of immune-privileged, readily available sources of adult stem cells like human conjunctiva stem cells with fibrin gel would be a promising strategy to increase the number of photoreceptor progenitor cells and promote involuntary angiogenesis needed in retina layer repair and regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soleimannejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Somayeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi-Barough
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biotechnology and Nanotechnology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Science, Zanjan, Iran.
authors.forename: Samad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nadri
authors.affiliation: Eye Research Center, Farabi Eye Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Riazi-Esfahani
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Blood Banking, Faculty of Medicine, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soleimani
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Mohammad
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tavangar
authors.affiliation: Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: jafar_ai@tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Jafar
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000166:cytology; D005337:Fibrin / Q000737:chemistry*; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000166:cytology; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D020100:Hydrogels; D005337:Fibrin
keywords: Conjunctiva mesenchymal stem cells; Hydrogel; Photoreceptors; Retina; Tissue engineering