Gene expression of sheep epidermal stem cells and corneal epithelia cells

Corneal epithelial cells (CECs) are required for corneal transparency and visual function, and corneal injuries may cause corneal blindness. Skin epidermal stem cells (SESCs), which share the same origin with CECs and have the potential of multi-directional differentiation are ideal seed cells for tissue engineered corneal construction to treat corneal blindness. To identify critical genes and pathways that modulate transdifferentiation from SESCs to CECs, we isolated and cultured the sheep SESCs and CECs and then compared gene expression of SESCs and CECs using microarray. Three epidermal stem cell lines (Use the method described by X Yang et al. 2007 and 2008) and three corneal epithelia cell lines (Use the method described by JC Jones 2011) were used in the study. Total  RNA  was  extracted  and  purified  using  miRNeasy  Mini  Kit（Cat#217004,  QIAGEN, GmBH, Germany) following the manufacturer’s instructions. The integrity of the isolated RNA was analyzed using the Agilent 2100 Electrophoresis Bioanalyzer System and found to be of sufficient quantity (13 to 21ug) and quality (RNA integrity number in the range of 9.9 to 10.0) for analysis using the Agilent sheep gene expression microarray, 8×15K.