Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells perform a variety of roles in the support of photoreceptor function, but are not amenable to in vitro analysis, as a tedious dissection process yields relatively sparse and slow-growing primary cultures of finite life span. Immortalized Rat Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells (BPEI-1) arose spontaneously from primary culture as isolated colonies that continued to proliferate indefinitely through successive passages. These cells exhibit hallmarks of transformation, can assume either a fibroblastic or epitethelioid form under different serum conditions, are immunoreactive for the RPE markers cytokeratin and cellular retinaldehyde binding protein and, like primary cells, avidly phagocytize outer photoreceptor rod segments. Given that pathology in RPE cells can lead to degeneration of photoreceptors and has been implicated in several retinal disorders, a continuous line such as BPEI-1 has obvious value in facilitating any number of studies that might be otherwise impractical with primary cultures.Immortalization Method: SpontaneousBioSafety Level: IISpecies: RatSource Organ: EyeGrowth Properties: AdherentMorphology: FibroblastPopulation Doubling: Approximately 18 hoursSeeding Density: N/AMarkers: Cellular retinaldehyde binding protein, cytokeratinDonor Age: 7 days oldDonor Gender: N/ADonor Ethnicity: N/APropagation: The base medium for this cell line is Prigrow III medium available at abm, Cat. No. TM003. To make the complete growth medium, add the following components to the base medium: fetal bovine serum (TM999)* to a final concentration of 20% and Penicillin/Streptomycin Solution (G255) to a final concentration of 1%.
Change media every 2-3 days.
Carbon dioxide (CO2): 5%, Temperature: +37.0°C.
* Do not use heat-inactivated FBS for cell culture unless specified otherwise.Quality Control: 1) Immunofluorescence localization; 2) Phagocytosis assayShipping Condition: Dry IceStorage Condition: liquid nitrogen or -180°C