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Updated: Aug 21, 2026
Rapid, Directed Differentiation of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells from Human Embryonic or Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Published on: October 30, 2017
[Differentiation of human embryonic retinal cells in vitro]
Hai-Yan Yu1, Li Shen, Xue Chen
1Department of Ophthalmology, Third Hospital, Peking University, Beijing 100083, China.
Objective:
To study the conditions to induce differentiation of human embryonic retinal cells (HRCs) in vitro.
Methods:
HRCs were isolated from neural retinas of 16th-20th week of gestation embryo and cultured in serum-free media. Retinal cell differentiation was induced by serum-containing media and by the mouse retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) eye cup whick mimic the retinal environment in vivo. The expression of Nestin and several differentiated retinal cell markers was investigated by immunostaining. Real time RT-PCR analysis was used to evaluate the mRNA level of nestin gene in HRCs and differentiated retinal cells.
Results:
HRCs cultured in serum-containing medium can differentiate into glial cell (GFAP positive), ganglion cell (Thy1 positive) and bipolar cell (PKCalpha positive). HRCs cultured in mouse RPE eye cup can also express photoreceptor marker rhodopsin and amacrine marker syntaxin. Nestin downregulate significantly in differentiated HRCs.
Conclusion:
RPE appeares to play an important role in the differentiation of retinal photoreceptors and amacrine cells in vitro.
