Partial preservation of rod and cone ERG function following subretinal injection of ARPE-19 cells in RCS rats.
We quantified rod- and cone-related electroretinogram (ERG) responses following subretinal injections of the human-derived retinal pigment epithelial (hRPE) cell line ARPE-19 at age P23 to prevent progressive photoreceptor loss in the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat. Culture medium-injected eyes served as sham controls. At P60, in comparison with sham-injected eyes, all recordings from hRPE-injected eyes showed preserved scotopic a- and b-waves, oscillatory potentials, double-flash-derived rod b-waves and photopic cone b-waves, and flicker critical fusion frequencies and amplitudes. Although the actual preservation did not exceed 10% of a-wave and 20% of b-wave amplitude values in non-dystrophic RCS and deteriorated rapidly by P90, rod- and cone-related ERG parameters were still recordable up to P120 unlike the virtually unresponsive sham-injected eyes.
Sauvé
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Department of Ophthalmology, 7-55 Medical Sciences Bldg, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta., Canada T6G 2H7. ysuave@ualberta.ca
Pinilla
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Lund
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D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004596:Electroretinography; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000628:therapy; D023421:Models, Animal; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000502:physiology*; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000637:transplantation*; D051381:Rats; D011922:Rats, Mutant Strains; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000503:physiopathology; D017948:Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells / Q000503:physiopathology; D012174:Retinitis Pigmentosa / Q000628:therapy; D013997:Time Factors