Open AccessInduced pluripotent stem cell-derived limbal epithelial cells (LiPSC) as a cellular alternative for in vitro ocular toxicity testing
Author(s) -
Édith Aberdam,
Isabelle Petit,
Linda Sangari,
Daniel Aberdam
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0179913
Subject(s) - induced pluripotent stem cell , stem cell , ex vivo , biology , flow cytometry , cornea , cytotoxicity , cell culture , microbiology and biotechnology , in vitro , pathology , immunology , medicine , embryonic stem cell , biochemistry , genetics , neuroscience , gene
Induced pluripotent stem cells hold great potential to produce unlimited amount of differentiated cells as cellular source for regenerative medicine but also for in vitro drug screening and cytotoxicity tests. Ocular toxicity testing is mandatory to evaluate the risks of drugs and cosmetic products before their application to human patients by preventing eye irritation or insult. Since the global ban to use animals, many human-derived alternatives have been proposed, from ex-vivo enucleated postmortem cornea, primary corneal cell culture and immortalized corneal epithelial cell lines. All of them share limitations for their routine use. Using an improved protocol, we derived limbal epithelial cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells, named LiPSC, that are able to be passaged and differentiate further into corneal epithelial cells. Comparative RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence staining, flow cytometry analysis and zymography assays demonstrate that LiPSC are morphologically and molecularly similar to the adult stem cells. Moreover, contrary to HCE, LiPSC and primary limbal cells display similarly sensitive to cytotoxicity treatment among passages. Our data strongly suggest that LiPSC could become a powerful alternative cellular model for cosmetic and drug tests.