INTO RETINAL PIGMENT EPITHELIUM Comparison of Adherent and EB-like Culturing Methods

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is an epithelial cell monolayer located in the retina region at the back of the eye. RPE has a significant function in the eyesight as it plays a key role in the supporting of photoreceptor functions. Disorders of RPE lead to degenerative eye dis-eases – such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa – that are the leading causes of blindness. In the future, these blinding retinal disorders could potentially be cured by uti-lizing regenerative medicine. Degenerated RPE could be replaced by tissue graft derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC). Currently, the differentiation of hPSCs to RPE cells is inefficient and results in low yields of functional cells. The yield of differentiated cells could be improved for example by chemical induction of the cells. The objective of the thesis was to further optimize a directed RPE differentiation method. In the future, more effective ways to produce hPSC-RPE could be used to develop tissue grafts that can be utilized in regenerative medicine. The aim of the study was to compare adherent and embryoid body (EB)-like culture meth-ods for directed differentiation of hPSCs into RPE. The comparison was done by evaluating the formation of melanin pigmentation between different culture methods and by analyzin