Investigating the Effect of Co-culturing Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells on Retinal Cells Survival and Migration in Vitro Environment

Human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) are population of cells isolated from adipose tissue. hADSCs have ability to differentiate along multiple cell lineages and secret verity of growth factors, which affect the neighboring cells. Previous studies had assessed the effects of hADSCs and their conditioned medium on neural cells. To our knowledge, there were no studies done on the effects of hADSCs on retinal cells in vitro. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hADSCs and their conditioned medium on retinal cell survival and migration in vitro.
The adipose tissue samples were obtained from a healthy donor after signing the consent. The stem cells were isolated and expanded through several subcultures. Rat retinal explants were isolated and cultured on coated wells. Retinal explants were co-cultured with hADSCs (direct) and their conditioned medium (indirect) for 1, 7 and 14 days.
Findings: There were significant differences (P These data suggest that hADSCs and their conditioned medium improve retinal cell survival and migration in vitro culture environment. We hope that our study paves the way to use these cells for treatment of retinal degenerative diseases.