Previous studies of the lineal relationships of the retinal precursors using retroviral infection or dye injections have shown that retinal neurons and glia have indeterminant lineages and that the cells of the germinal neuroepithelium are multipotent, giving rise to different neuronal and glial phenotypes up to their last cell division. Although the factors that restrict the fates of differentiating neuronal precursors to particular retinal phenotypes have not yet been identified, several lines of evidence indicate that the local microenvironment of a developing neuroblast can influence its proliferation and differentiation. These factors also appear to be developmentally regulated, since the age at which a neuro-epithelial cell differentiates determines the range of neuronal phenotypes that it can express. This work involves studies of both developing and regenerating retina, including both in vivo and in vitro experimental approaches. Basic fibroblast growth factor induces retinal pigment epithelium to generate neural retina in vitro.
Cellular interactions determine neuronal phenotypes in rodent retinal cultures.
Perspectives in Dev. Retinoic acid promotes photoreceptor differentiation in rat retinal cell cultures.