Studying In Vivo Retinal Progenitor Cell Proliferation in Xenopus laevis

The efficient generation and maintenance of retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) are key goals needed for developing strategies for productive eye repair. Although vertebrate eye development and retinogenesis are well characterized, the mechanisms that can initiate RPC proliferation following injury-induced regrowth and repair remain unknown. This is partly because endogenous RPC proliferation typically occurs during embryogenesis while studies of retinal regeneration have largely utilized adult (or mature) models. We found that embryos of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, successfully regrew functional eyes after ablation. The initiation of regrowth induced a robust RPC proliferative response with a concomitant delay of the endogenous RPC differentiation program. During eye regrowth, overall embryonic development proceeded normally. Here, we provide a protocol to study regrowth-dependent RPC proliferation in vivo. This system represents a robust and low-cost strategy to rapidly define fundamental mechanisms that regulate regrowth-initiated RPC proliferation, which will facilitate progress in identifying promising strategies for productive eye repair.