Patch culturing and transfer of human fetal retinal epithelium

Abstract

Human retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) can be cultured by removing small patches of this layer from the choroid of the fetal eye. Such RPE patches give rise to healthy, epithelioid monolayers in vitro within 1-2 weeks without contamination from retinal or choroidal cells. The viability and proliferative capacity of these cultures is independent of the initial polarity of the patch. These RPE monolayers develop apical/basal polarity and a basal lamina and rest on a field of collagen fibers; they are capable of phagocytizing outer segments. A patch can be lifted off a confluent monolayer and transferred to another culture dish without risking the viability of either the old or the new culture. This provides a means of transplanting an organized, polarized patch of human RPE from one place to another.

Cellular response in rabbit eyes after human fetal RPE cell transplantation

“…Injection of 12 000 cells/l did not cause retinal breaks; however, there was photoreceptor loss and retinal damage in the areas adjacent to the multilayers formed by donor or host RPE cells. Photoreceptor damage adjacent to the transplanted RPE cells was also noted by others [20]. The most significant inflammatory response seen in our studies was concentrated in the areas with maximal accumulation of donor cells.…”

A model for xenogenic immune response

“…The posterior segment of the eye was cut into four quadrants and placed into a petri dish containing Dulbecco's minimum essential medium (DMEM; Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.) [5]. The neural retina and any remaining vitreous were removed.…”

Retinal pigment epithelium cells cultured on synthetic biodegradable polymers

“…in rabbit eyes. 28 Currently, there is no satisfactory means of achieving an organized RPE cell graft with bone. 31 In the majority of these experiments poly(Ͱ-hydroxy esters), such as those used in this study, were normal functionality.…”