Journal article

Defined Medium Conditions for the Induction and Expansion of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium

GE Lidgerwood, SY Lim, DE Crombie, R Ali, KP Gill, D Hernández, J Kie, A Conquest, HS Waugh, RCB Wong, HH Liang, AW Hewitt, KC Davidson, A Pébay

Stem Cell Reviews and Reports | Springer | Published : 2016

Abstract

We demonstrate that a combination of Noggin, Dickkopf-1, Insulin Growth Factor 1 and basic Fibroblast Growth Factor, promotes the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. We describe an efficient one-step approach that allows the generation of RPE cells from both human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells within 40–60 days without the need for manual excision, floating aggregates or imbedded cysts. Compared to methods that rely on spontaneous differentiation, our protocol results in faster differentiation into RPE cells. This pro-retinal culture medium promotes the growth of functional RPE cells that exhibit key cha..

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the NHMRC (1059369), the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia, the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia and the Stafford Fox Medical Foundation. Further support was provided by Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarships (GL, KPG), a NHMRC Career Development Award Fellowship (AP), a NHMRC-CSL Gustav Nossal Postgraduate Research Scholarship (DEC), a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (AWH), an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship (AP, FT140100047), a Cranbourne Fellowship (RCBW), a Gerard Crock Fellowship (KCD), the University of Melbourne and Operational Infrastructure Support from the Victorian Government.