Retinal Pigment Epithelium Organ Culture

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) organ culture is defined here as the preservation of tissue explants including RPE monolayer in a living state over defined period of time, with the purpose to study a living RPE. There are mainly two different types of RPE organ culture; RPE-choroid organ culture and RPE-choroid-sclera organ culture. As a culture system, there are static and perfusion culture systems. The co-cultivation with the neural retina is also one of the options. As studies with RPE organ culture serve as an intermediary role as a bridge between in vitro and in vivo studies, proper knowledge about the RPE organ culture might be quite helpful for the choice of the appropriate experimental model for each study. In this chapter, different types and systems of RPE organ culture are introduced, with their morphological and functional characteristics, as well as advantage and disadvantages. Finally their possible applications in ophthalmic research are introduced from previous and ongoing studies.