Retina co-culture induces neural stem cells proliferation into retinal ganglion cells

Objective:To study the effects of co-culture of superior colliculus (SC) derived neural stem cells (NSCs) and retina from newborn rat on the differentiation of SC derived NSCs. Methods: NSCs were mechanically separated from SC of 14-day embryo of SD rats. SC derived NSCs were sub-cultured in a serum-free medium using selective culture. Retinal tissue from 4 d newborn rat was co-cultured with SC derived NSCs in a tissue-cell co-culture system. The differentiation of NSCs was observed dynamically and the differentiated cells were identified by immunofluorescence technique. The natural differentiation process and co-culture differentiation process of SC derived NSCs were compared. Results: Cells from SC of the rat embryo formed into masses in a suspension state under serum-free condition. The cells were sub-cultured and had multilineage potential,and they were identified as NSCs by immunofluorescence technique. Co-culture with retinal tissue from newborn rat promoted the differentiation of NSCs into Thy1.1 positive cells. Conclusion: Embryonic SC derived NSCs can be acquired by mechanical separation and serum-free culture. Co-culture with retinal tissue from newborn rat can induce differentiation of NSCs into retinal ganglion cells.