Ex Vivo Culture and Formalin-Fixed Paraffin Embedding of Murine Retinal Explants

Traumatic, inherited, and age-related degenerative diseases of the retina are characterized by irreversible loss of retinal neurons, and no present treatments are available to restore them. Cultured murine neuroretinal explants serve as a model of retinal injury and offer a high-throughput, ex vivo approach to test various therapeutic interventions. Here, we describe techniques to isolate and culture retinal explants and treat them with molecules and viruses to enable identification of novel therapeutic strategies. In order to assess the effectiveness of a potential intervention, we also describe protocols to handle friable retinal explants and prepare formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections for hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunofluorescence. We also provide tips to overcome common challenges in explant isolation, culture, embedding, and sectioning.