Conjunctival reconstruction with progenitor cell-derived autologous epidermal sheets in rhesus monkey.

Severe ocular surface diseases are some of the most challenging problems that the clinician faces today. Conventional management is generally unsatisfactory, and the long-term ocular consequences of these conditions are devastating. It is significantly important to find a substitute for conjunctival...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rong Lu, Xinchun Zhang, Danping Huang, Bing Huang, Nan Gao, Zhichong Wang, Jian Ge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3214019?pdf=render
id doaj-5d4fff76a0214139b2045c5f38c47417
record_format Article
spelling doaj-5d4fff76a0214139b2045c5f38c474172020-11-25T00:10:59ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-01-01611e2571310.1371/journal.pone.0025713Conjunctival reconstruction with progenitor cell-derived autologous epidermal sheets in rhesus monkey.Rong LuXinchun ZhangDanping HuangBing HuangNan GaoZhichong WangJian GeSevere ocular surface diseases are some of the most challenging problems that the clinician faces today. Conventional management is generally unsatisfactory, and the long-term ocular consequences of these conditions are devastating. It is significantly important to find a substitute for conjunctival epithelial cells. This study was to explore the possibility of progenitor cell-derived epidermal sheets on denuded amniotic membrane to reconstruct ocular surface of conjunctiva damaged monkeys. We isolated epidermal progenitor cells of rhesus monkeys by type IV collagen adhesion, and then expanded progenitor cell-derived epidermal sheets on denuded amniotic membrane ex vivo. At 3 weeks after the conjunctiva injury, the damaged ocular surface of four monkeys was surgically reconstructed by transplanting the autologous cultivated epidermal progenitor cells. At 2 weeks after surgery, transplants were removed and examined with Hematoxylin-eosin staining, Periodic acid Schiff staining, immunofluorescent staining, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Histological examination of transplanted sheets revealed that the cell sheets were healthy alive, adhered well to the denuded amniotic membrane, and had several layers of epithelial cells. Electron microscopy showed that the epithelial cells were very similar in appearance to those of normal conjunctival epithelium, even without goblet cell detected. Epithelial cells of transplants had numerous desmosomal junctions and were attached to the amniotic membrane with hemidesmosomes. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence of the conjunctival specific markers, mucin 4 and keratin 4, in the transplanted epidermal progenitor cells. In conclusion, our present study successfully reconstructed conjunctiva with autologous transplantation of progenitor cell-derived epidermal sheets on denuded AM in conjunctival damaged monkeys, which is the first step toward assessing the use of autologous transplantation of progenitor cells of nonocular surface origin. Epidermal progenitor cells could be provided as a new substitute for conjunctival epithelial cells to overcome the problems of autologous conjunctiva shortage.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3214019?pdf=render
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Rong Lu
Xinchun Zhang
Danping Huang
Bing Huang
Nan Gao
Zhichong Wang
Jian Ge
spellingShingle Rong Lu
Xinchun Zhang
Danping Huang
Bing Huang
Nan Gao
Zhichong Wang
Jian Ge
Conjunctival reconstruction with progenitor cell-derived autologous epidermal sheets in rhesus monkey.
PLoS ONE
author_facet Rong Lu
Xinchun Zhang
Danping Huang
Bing Huang
Nan Gao
Zhichong Wang
Jian Ge
author_sort Rong Lu
title Conjunctival reconstruction with progenitor cell-derived autologous epidermal sheets in rhesus monkey.
title_short Conjunctival reconstruction with progenitor cell-derived autologous epidermal sheets in rhesus monkey.
title_full Conjunctival reconstruction with progenitor cell-derived autologous epidermal sheets in rhesus monkey.
title_fullStr Conjunctival reconstruction with progenitor cell-derived autologous epidermal sheets in rhesus monkey.
title_full_unstemmed Conjunctival reconstruction with progenitor cell-derived autologous epidermal sheets in rhesus monkey.
title_sort conjunctival reconstruction with progenitor cell-derived autologous epidermal sheets in rhesus monkey.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
series PLoS ONE
issn 1932-6203
publishDate 2011-01-01
description Severe ocular surface diseases are some of the most challenging problems that the clinician faces today. Conventional management is generally unsatisfactory, and the long-term ocular consequences of these conditions are devastating. It is significantly important to find a substitute for conjunctival epithelial cells. This study was to explore the possibility of progenitor cell-derived epidermal sheets on denuded amniotic membrane to reconstruct ocular surface of conjunctiva damaged monkeys. We isolated epidermal progenitor cells of rhesus monkeys by type IV collagen adhesion, and then expanded progenitor cell-derived epidermal sheets on denuded amniotic membrane ex vivo. At 3 weeks after the conjunctiva injury, the damaged ocular surface of four monkeys was surgically reconstructed by transplanting the autologous cultivated epidermal progenitor cells. At 2 weeks after surgery, transplants were removed and examined with Hematoxylin-eosin staining, Periodic acid Schiff staining, immunofluorescent staining, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Histological examination of transplanted sheets revealed that the cell sheets were healthy alive, adhered well to the denuded amniotic membrane, and had several layers of epithelial cells. Electron microscopy showed that the epithelial cells were very similar in appearance to those of normal conjunctival epithelium, even without goblet cell detected. Epithelial cells of transplants had numerous desmosomal junctions and were attached to the amniotic membrane with hemidesmosomes. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence of the conjunctival specific markers, mucin 4 and keratin 4, in the transplanted epidermal progenitor cells. In conclusion, our present study successfully reconstructed conjunctiva with autologous transplantation of progenitor cell-derived epidermal sheets on denuded AM in conjunctival damaged monkeys, which is the first step toward assessing the use of autologous transplantation of progenitor cells of nonocular surface origin. Epidermal progenitor cells could be provided as a new substitute for conjunctival epithelial cells to overcome the problems of autologous conjunctiva shortage.
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3214019?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT ronglu conjunctivalreconstructionwithprogenitorcellderivedautologousepidermalsheetsinrhesusmonkey
AT xinchunzhang conjunctivalreconstructionwithprogenitorcellderivedautologousepidermalsheetsinrhesusmonkey
AT danpinghuang conjunctivalreconstructionwithprogenitorcellderivedautologousepidermalsheetsinrhesusmonkey
AT binghuang conjunctivalreconstructionwithprogenitorcellderivedautologousepidermalsheetsinrhesusmonkey
AT nangao conjunctivalreconstructionwithprogenitorcellderivedautologousepidermalsheetsinrhesusmonkey
AT zhichongwang conjunctivalreconstructionwithprogenitorcellderivedautologousepidermalsheetsinrhesusmonkey
AT jiange conjunctivalreconstructionwithprogenitorcellderivedautologousepidermalsheetsinrhesusmonkey
_version_ 1725405918076600320