Transplantation of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells

Transplantations of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells into the subretinal space in animal models of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) have demonstrated that degenerative processes can be prevented, and much hope is pinned on this therapeutic approach. During the past 2 decades, intra- or subretinal transplantation of retinal cells or tissues was extensively studied using various animal models. The most common animal used is the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat, which develops postpartal RPE degeneration. Successful RPE transplantation is based on gaining functional cells as a sheet, in suspension or after multiplication. Maintenance of differentiated morphology and of typical functions of the RPE cells during serial passaging is — besides propagation of the cells — the main task of successful cell culturing in order to provide functional RPE cell transplants.