Heterogeneity of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells from Adult Human Eye in Different Culturing Systems

Abstract

We studied the behavior of retinal pigment epithelial cells from adult human eye derived from different donors in different culturing systems: on plastic, in collagen gel, and on decellularized neural retina substrate. The cells diverge into two subpopulations similar by their morphology and behavior: one subpopulation migrated to the surface of the dense substrate and the other formed spheroid structures consisting of aggregated cells. This fact confirms the data on genetically-predetermined phenotypic heterogeneity of retinal pigment epithelium cells that should be taken into account when using these cells in tissue engineering.

Reprogramming of Differentiated Mammalian and Human Retinal Pigment Epithelium: Current Achievements and Prospects

“…Thus, under 2D culture conditions, differences like cell growth and in the heterogeneity of the monolayer are revealed: cells are different in size, shape, degree of pigmentation, and number of nucleus as well as in the formation of colonies, cells form both densely packed epithelial colonies with different morphology and "loose" colonies with blurred borders, which reflects the ongoing clonal cell proliferation (Kuznetsova et al, 2011). Under 3D culture conditions (in a collagen gel, on a cell-free retinal framework), the heterogeneity of RPE cells is manifested in the division into two subpopulations of cells that are different in morphology and various in behavior: one subpopulation of cells migrates to the surface of a dense substrate, the other forms sphere-like structures of aggregated cells (Kuznetsova and Aleksandrova, 2017). The subpopulation that retains the ability to form a tight monolayer and to the redifferentiation of RPE might have beneficial effects for transplantation, whereas a second subpopulation, which forms cell aggregates, can exert a tractional effect on the surrounding tissues, which is unfavorable for transplantation.…”