Tissue culture of retinal glial cells

In order to be able to investigate the properties and characteristics of glia in the retina, a monotypic culture of retinal glial cells is likely to be an important research vehicle. Several techniques are now available to produce cultures of glial cells from the retina. These methods generally result in cultures of Mueller cells rather than retinal astrocytes. Publications on glial cultures involved complex procedures for the isolation of the target cell. Recent developments have resulted in simpler procedures with the advantage that large numbers of cultures can be established quickly and easily. Glial cultures have already been used in a variety of studies, simpler methods of culture, particularly if these can be adapted for culture of human glial cells, will probably result in more extensive use of cultures to unravel the properties of retinal glia.