Skip to main content

Generation of Functional Retinal Pigment Epithelium from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

  • Protocol

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1834))

Abstract

The availability of otherwise not readily accessible intraocular cells via induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology offers great potential for disease modelling, drug screening, and cell-based transplantation therapy in degenerative ocular disorders. Direct differentiation of iPSCs into retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is particularly straightforward, and iPSC-derived RPE cell cultures have been demonstrated to yield pure populations of functional cells that display many features of native RPE. Here, I describe a protocol for the generation of iPSC-derived RPE monolayer, their propagation, and cryostorage. A reliable monitoring for functional cell differentiation is achieved by measuring transepithelial resistance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Protocol
USD   49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Springer Nature is developing a new tool to find and evaluate Protocols. Learn more

References

  1. Takahashi K, Tanabe K, Ohnuki M et al (2007) Induction of pluripotent stem cells from adult human fibroblasts by defined factors. Cell 131:861–872

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Takahashi K, Yamanaka S (2016) A decade of transcription factor-mediated reprogramming to pluripotency. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 17:183–193

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Ramsden CM, Powner MB, Carr AJ et al (2013) Stem cells in retinal regeneration: past, present and future. Development 140:2576–2585

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Brandl C, Zimmermann SJ, Milenkovic VM et al (2014) In-depth characterisation of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). NeuroMolecular Med 16:551–564

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Buchholz DE, Pennington BO, Croze RH et al (2013) Rapid and efficient directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into retinal pigmented epithelium. Stem Cells Transl Med 2:384–393

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Du H, Lim SL, Grob S et al (2011) Induced pluripotent stem cell therapies for geographic atrophy of age-related macular degeneration. Semin Ophthalmol 26:216–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kamao H, Mandai M, Okamoto S et al (2014) Characterization of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium cell sheets aiming for clinical application. Stem Cell Rep 2:205–218

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Krohne TU, Westenskow PD, Kurihara T et al (2012) Generation of retinal pigment epithelial cells from small molecules and OCT4 reprogrammed human induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cells Transl Med 1:96–109

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Singh R, Phillips MJ, Kuai D et al (2013) Functional analysis of serially expanded human iPS cell-derived RPE cultures. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 54:6767–6778

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Ablonczy Z, Dahrouj M, Tang PH et al (2011) Human retinal pigment epithelium cells as functional models for the RPE in vivo. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 52:8614–8620

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I gratefully acknowledge the excellent and dedicated cell culture work of Nico Hertel. This study was in part supported by a grant from Novartis Pharma GmbH, Nürnberg, Germany (Reference No. 3625340) and Institutional Support from Titel 77 (Institute of Human Genetics, University of Regensburg).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caroline Brandl .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

About this protocol

Cite this protocol

Brandl, C. (2019). Generation of Functional Retinal Pigment Epithelium from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. In: Weber, B.H.F., Langmann, T. (eds) Retinal Degeneration. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1834. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8669-9_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8669-9_6

  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-8668-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-8669-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics