Isolation of Primary Mouse Retinal Pigmented Epithelium Cells

The retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) layer lies immediately behind the photoreceptors and harbors a complex metabolic system that plays several critical roles in maintaining the photoreceptors' function. Thus, the RPE structure and function are essential to sustain normal vision. This manuscript presents an established protocol for primary mouse RPE cell isolation. RPE isolation is a great tool to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying RPE pathology in the different mouse models of ocular disorders. Furthermore, RPE isolation can help in comparing primary mouse RPE cells isolated from wild-type and genetically modified mice, as well as testing drugs that can accelerate the development of therapy for visual disorders. The manuscript presents a step-by-step RPE isolation protocol; the entire procedure, from enucleation to seeding, takes approximately 4 hours. The media shouldn't be changed for 5-7 days after seeding, to allow the growth of the isolated cells without disturbance. This process is followed by the characterization of morphology, pigmentation, and specific markers in the cells via immunofluorescence. Cells can be passaged a maximum of three or four times.