RESUMO
In addition to the ability for self-renewal and functional differentiation, neural stem/progenitor cells (NSCs) can respond to CNS injuries by targeted migration. In lower vertebrates, retinal injury is known to activate NSCs in the ciliary marginal zone (CMZ). Cells expressing markers of NSCs are also present in the ciliary body epithelium (CE) and in Müller glia in the peripheral retina (PR) of the adult human eye. However, these cells seem to be quiescent in the adult human eye and recent reports have shown that CE cells have limited properties of NSCs. In order to further clarify whether NSCs exist in the adult human eye, we tested whether NSC-like cells could be activated in eyes with proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). The PR and CE were studied for NSC-associated markers in human enucleated control eyes and eyes with confirmed PVR, as well as in a mouse model of PVR. Furthermore, cells isolated from vitreous samples obtained during vitrectomies for retinal detachment were directly fixed or cultured in a stem cell-promoting medium and compared to cells cultured from the post-mortem retina and CE. In situ characterization of the normal eyes revealed robust expression of markers present in NSCs (Nestin, Sox2, Pax6) only around peripheral cysts of the proximal pars plana region and the PR, the latter population also staining for the glial marker GFAP. Although there were higher numbers of dividing cells in the CE of PVR eyes than in controls, we did not detect NSC-associated markers in the CE except around the proximal pars plana cysts. In the mice PVR eyes, Nestin activation was also found in the CE. In human PVR eyes, proliferation of both non-glial and glial cells co-staining NSC-associated markers was evident around the ora serrata region. Spheres formed in 7/10 vitreous samples from patients with PVR compared to 2/15 samples from patients with no known PVR, and expressed glial - and NSC-associated markers both after direct fixation and repetitive passages. In conclusion, the adult human eye may harbor two different populations of neuroepithelial stem/progenitor cells; a non-glial population located in the proximal pars plana around peripheral cysts in addition to a population with Müller glia characteristics. Yet, we only found that the glial population was able to respond to retinal injury by targeted migration into the vitreous.
Assuntos
Corpo Ciliar/patologia , Epitélio Pigmentado Ocular/patologia , Neurônios Retinianos/patologia , Células-Tronco/patologia , Vitreorretinopatia Proliferativa/patologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Animais , Biomarcadores/metabolismo , Caderinas/metabolismo , Corpo Ciliar/metabolismo , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Proteínas do Olho/metabolismo , Feminino , Técnica Indireta de Fluorescência para Anticorpo , Proteína Glial Fibrilar Ácida/metabolismo , Proteínas de Homeodomínio/metabolismo , Humanos , Proteínas de Filamentos Intermediários/metabolismo , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/metabolismo , Nestina , Fator de Transcrição PAX6 , Fatores de Transcrição Box Pareados/metabolismo , Epitélio Pigmentado Ocular/metabolismo , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase em Tempo Real , Proteínas Repressoras/metabolismo , Descolamento Retiniano/patologia , Descolamento Retiniano/cirurgia , Neurônios Retinianos/metabolismo , Rodopsina/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição SOXB1/metabolismo , Células-Tronco/metabolismo , Vitreorretinopatia Proliferativa/metabolismo , Vitreorretinopatia Proliferativa/cirurgia , Corpo Vítreo/metabolismoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: We have employed a rat model for human acute myeloid leukemia, a promyelocytic leukemia in the BN rat strain (BNML), to develop new protocols for immunotherapy in combination with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (alloBMT). The status of mixed chimerism in allotransplanted rats provided an opportunity for immunotherapy using alloreactive donor cells. In addition to T or natural killer (NK) cells, we introduced a second infusion of bone marrow cells as prophylactic donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) to test whether an effective graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) response could be obtained without clinical graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). METHODS: BN rats were sublethally irradiated and transplanted with T-cell depleted bone marrow cells from either fully major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-mismatched (PVG) donor rats or MHC-matched (PVG.1N) as controls. Seven days after transplantation, rats were given 500 leukemic cells to mimic minimal residual disease. Additional cellular therapy was given at day +7. The efficiency of DLI was monitored by chimerism analysis in peripheral blood. RESULTS: Rats receiving infusions of NK cells succumbed to leukemia. T-DLI induced complete donor T-cell chimerism and lethal GVHD. A second alloBMT protected against leukemia. This effect was dependent on an MHC incompatibility between the donor and host and also on the presence of alloreactive T cells in the second bone marrow inoculum, resulting in an increased, mixed donor T-cell chimerism. CONCLUSION: A second prophylactic transplantation influenced the degree of T-cell chimerism to balance favorably between GVL and GVHD. If applicable to humans, repeated alloBMT may provide a novel approach to leukemia therapy.