Abstract
Purpose :
In this study, we investigated whether Wharton’s Jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) could protect the light-damaged retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in vitro.
Methods :
The co-culture system of light-damaged RPE cells and WJ-MSCs was established by Transwell chamber. The RPE cells were divided into three groups: Group A (normal controls), Group B (light-damaged RPE cells), and Group C (co-culture system). The proliferative ability of RPE cells was measured by MTT assay at 24h and 48h after co-culture. The phagocytosis ability of RPE cells was measured by both Photoreceptor outer segments (POS) and Latex beads (LB) phagocytosis assays at 48h after co-culture. ELISA kits were used to measure the levels of PEDF, bFGF in the culture supernatant.
Results :
The proliferative ability of light-damaged RPE cells was declined, compared with the normal controls. And their proliferative ability was improved in the co-culture system. The POS phagocytosis ability of light-damaged RPE cells was deceased, compared with the normal controls. And their POS phagocytosis ability was increased in the co-culture system. The LB phagocytosis ability of light-damaged RPE cells was abnormally increased, compared with the normal controls. And their LB phagocytosis ability decreased to normal in the co-culture system. The protein expression of HSP27 was increased in light-damaged RPE cells, compared with the normal controls. Their protein expression of HSP27 decreased to normal in the co-culture system.The secretion of PEDF was decreased in light-damaged RPE cells, compared with the normal controls. And their secretion of PEDF was increased in the co-culture system. The baseline secretion of bFGF in the normal RPE cells was very low, and there was no significant change of bFGF secretion in light-damaged RPE cells. But the level of bFGF in the co-culture supernatant was significantly increased.
Conclusions :
Our study demonstrated that WJ-MSCs have in vitro protective effect on light-damaged RPE cells. The possible mechanism is that WJ-MSCs could enhance the level of bFGF in the co-culture supernatant, promote the PEDF secretion by RPE cells, and eventually reduce the HSP27 expression in RPE cells.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.