Electric impedance of human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium

The barrier properties of epithelium are conventionally defined by transepithelial resistance (TER). TER provides information about the tightness of the epithelium. Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) provides additional information regarding cell membrane properties, such as changes in electric capacitance and possible parallel or serial pathways that may correlate with the morphology of the cell layer. This study presents EIS of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell model of the putative RPE differentiated from human embryonic stem cells (hESC-RPE). The generally utilized RPE cell model, ARPE-19, was used as immature control. The measured EIS was analyzed by fitting an equivalent electrical circuit model describing the resistive and capacitive properties of the RPE. Our results indicated that TER of hESC-RPE cells was close to the values of human RPE presented in the literature. This provides evidence that the stem cell-derived RPE in vitro can reach high-barrier function. Furthermore, hESC-RPE cells produced impedance spectra that can be modeled by the equivalent circuit of one time constant. ARPE-19 cells produced low-barrier properties, that is, an impedance spectra that suggested poor maturation of ARPE-19 cells. To conclude, EIS could give us means for non-invasively estimating the functionality and maturation of differentiated-RPE cells.