Culture of retinal pigment epithelial cells from subretinal fluid.
Culture of cells from subretinal fluid (SRF) was performed using 29 SRF samples obtained at retinal reattachment surgery. Proliferating cells were found in 58.6% of the samples studied. The cells were of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) origin, as evidenced by their brown pigmentation in primary culture and their positive immunostaining for cytokeratins 8/18. The age of the patients did not affect the proliferative capacity of the cells. Proliferating cells were present in all samples from eyes with proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) of grade C1 or more. In primary culture the cells had a fibroblast-like morphology, resembling that of ordinary RPE cells exposed to the vitreous. We conclude that the SRF of many patients with PVR contains viable proliferating RPE cells and that SRF offers a new source of RPE cells for studies on the pathogenesis of PVR.
Department of Virology, University of Helsinki, Finland.
V
V
Sirén
E M
EM
Salonen
A
A
Vaheri
P
P
Tommila
I
I
Immonen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002455:Cell Division; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005110:Extracellular Space; D005260:Female; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008875:Middle Aged; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000473:pathology*; D012163:Retinal Detachment / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology
D005353:Fibronectins; D007633:Keratins