Use of bioreactors for culturing human retinal organoids improves photoreceptor yields

The use of human pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal cells for cell therapy strategies and disease modelling relies on the ability to obtain healthy and organised retinal tissue in sufficient quantities. Generating such tissue is a lengthy process, often taking over 6 months of cell culture, and current approaches do not always generate large quantities of the major retinal cell types required.

We adapted our previously described differentiation protocol to investigate the use of stirred-tank bioreactors. We used immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry and electron microscopy to characterise retinal organoids grown in standard and bioreactor culture conditions.

Our analysis revealed that the use of bioreactors results in improved laminar stratification as well as an increase in the yield of photoreceptor cells bearing cilia and nascent outer-segment-like structures.

Bioreactors represent a promising platform for scaling up the manufacture of retinal cells for use in disease modelling, drug screening and cell transplantation studies.