Ye J, Zhang C, Ryan S J
Department of Ophthalmology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing.
Zhonghua Yan Ke Za Zhi. 1995 Mar;31(2):109-13.
Dysfunction as well as pathological changes of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) has been implicated as the causes of some retinal diseases, including age-related macular degeneration, hereditary macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, etc. Transplantation of normal healthy RPE cells with an attempt to treat the retinal diseases is one of the current interests in ophthalmic research. We have developed a modified pars plana technique including vitrectomy for subretinal transplantation of homologous, cultured, natural pigment labelled RPE cells in the non-pigmented rabbit. Our results, with follow-up from one week to one year, revealed that the transplanted RPE cells not only survived and attached to Bruch's membrane of the host eyes, but also had a distinct basal and apical morphology as seen in close contact with host photoreceptors, and formed junctional complexes with neighboring RPE cells. Close contact between the microvilli of the grafted RPE cells and the photoreceptor outer segments of the host was also observed. The normal periodical sheddings of the host outer segments were phagocytosed by the transplanted RPE cells, as demonstrated in our results. Furthermore, there was practically no, if any, sign of rejection found. All the results have demonstrated that the transplantation of RPE cells in rabbits was successful and these observations provide a reliable experimental evidence for the clinical research of allotransplantation of RPE cells.
视网膜色素上皮（RPE）功能障碍以及病理变化被认为是一些视网膜疾病的病因，包括年龄相关性黄斑变性、遗传性黄斑变性和色素性视网膜炎等。试图通过移植正常健康的RPE细胞来治疗视网膜疾病是目前眼科研究的热点之一。我们开发了一种改良的睫状体扁平部技术，包括玻璃体切除术，用于在无色素兔眼中进行同源、培养、天然色素标记的RPE细胞的视网膜下移植。我们的结果，随访时间从一周到一年，显示移植的RPE细胞不仅存活并附着在宿主眼的布鲁赫膜上，而且与宿主光感受器紧密接触时呈现出明显的基底和顶端形态，并与相邻的RPE细胞形成连接复合体。还观察到移植的RPE细胞的微绒毛与宿主的光感受器外段紧密接触。如我们的结果所示，宿主外段的正常周期性脱落被移植的RPE细胞吞噬。此外，几乎没有发现排斥迹象（如果有的话）。所有结果都表明兔RPE细胞移植是成功的，这些观察结果为RPE细胞同种异体移植的临床研究提供了可靠的实验证据。
