METHOD FOR PRODUCING RETINAL TISSUE AND RETINA-RELATED CELLS

1 . A method for producing a retinal progenitor cell, comprising

(1) a first step of subjecting pluripotent stem cells to culture in a serum-free medium, and

(2) a second step of subjecting the cells obtained in step (1) to culture in a serum-free medium or serum-containing medium each being free of a substance acting on the Sonic hedgehog signal transduction pathway and containing a substance acting on the BMP signal transduction pathway,

thereby obtaining an aggregate containing retinal progenitor cells.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step (1) comprises a step of floating culture.

3 . A method for producing a retinal tissue, comprising

(1) a first step of subjecting pluripotent stem cells to culture in a serum-free medium,

(2) a second step of subjecting the cells obtained in step (1) to culture in a serum-free medium or serum-containing medium each being free of a substance acting on the Sonic hedgehog signal transduction pathway and containing a substance acting on the BMP signal transduction pathway, thereby obtaining an aggregate containing retinal progenitor cells, and

(3) a third step of subjecting the aggregate formed in step (2) to culture in a serum-free medium or serum-containing medium each being free of any of a substance acting on the Sonic hedgehog signal transduction pathway, a substance acting on the BMP signal transduction pathway and a substance acting on the Wnt signal pathway, thereby obtaining an aggregate containing retinal tissues and being substantially free of non-neural head ectoderm.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein at least one of step (1) and step (3) comprises a step of floating culture.

5 . A method for producing a retinal layer-specific neural cell, comprising

(1) a first step of subjecting pluripotent stem cells to culture in a serum-free medium,

(2) a second step of subjecting the cells obtained in step (1) to culture in a serum-free medium or serum-containing medium each being free of a substance acting on the Sonic hedgehog signal transduction pathway and containing a substance acting on the BMP signal transduction pathway, thereby obtaining an aggregate containing retinal progenitor cells, and, and

(3) a third step of subjecting the aggregate formed in step (2) to floating culture in a serum-free medium or serum-containing medium each being free of any of a substance acting on the Sonic hedgehog signal transduction pathway, a substance acting on the BMP signal transduction pathway and a substance acting on the Wnt signal pathway until the intended retinal layer-specific neural cells appear, thereby obtaining an aggregate containing retinal tissues containing the intended retinal layer-specific neural cells and being substantially free of non-neural head ectoderm.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein at least one of step (1) and step (3) comprises a step of floating culture.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pluripotent stem cells are primate pluripotent stem cells.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pluripotent stem cells are human pluripotent stem cells.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step (1) and step (2) are performed in the presence of a serum replacement.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substance acting on the BMP signal transduction pathway is one or more proteins selected from the group consisting of BMP2, BMP4, BMP7 and GDF7.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substance acting on the BMP signal transduction pathway is added to the medium between day 1 and day 15 from the start of culture in step (1).

12 . A method of treating a disease due to a disorder of a retinal tissue, comprising

(1) producing a retinal progenitor cells according to the method described in claim 1 , and

(2) transplanting an effective amount of the retinal progenitor cells obtained in step (1) to a subject in need of the transplantation.

13 . A method of treating a disease due to a disorder of a retinal tissue, comprising

(1) producing a retinal tissue according to the method described in claim 3 , and

(2) transplanting an effective amount of the retinal progenitor cells obtained in step (1) to a subject in need of the transplantation.