Pre-induced adult human peripheral blood mononuclear cells migrate widely into the degenerative retinas of rd1 mice.

Background Aims: Recent advances in stem cell research have raised the possibility of stem cells repairing or replacing retinal photoreceptor cells that are either dysfunctional or lost in many retinal diseases. Various types of stem cells have been used to replace retinal photoreceptor cells. Recently, peripheral blood stem cells, a small proportion of pluripotent stem cells, have been reported to mainly exist in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).

Methods: In this study, the effects of pre-induced adult human PBMCs (hPBMCs) on the degenerative retinas of rd1 mice were investigated. Freshly isolated adult hPBMCs were pre-induced with the use of the conditioned medium of rat retinas for 4 days and were then labeled with chloromethyl-benzamidodialkylcarbocyanine (CM-DiI) and then transplanted into the subretinal space of the right eye of rd1 mice through a trans-scleral approach. The right eyes were collected 30 days after transplantation. The survival and migration of the transplanted cells in host retinas were investigated by whole-mount retinas, retinal frozen sections and immunofluorescent staining.

Results: After subretinal transplantation, pre-induced hPBMCs were able to survive and widely migrate into the retinas of rd1 mice. A few CM-DiI-labeled cells migrated into the inner nuclear layer and the retinal ganglion cell layer. Some transplanted cells in the subretinal space of rd1 host mice expressed the human photoreceptor-specific marker rhodopsin.

Conclusions: This study suggests that pre-induced hPBMCs may be a potential cell source of cell replacement therapy for retinal degenerative diseases.