Differentiation of primary retinal cells and <i>in vitro</i> expanded ‘RSCs’ isolated from rhoEGFP reporter mice.

Abstract

<p>Primary cells isolated at PN2 from retinas of <i>rhoEGFP</i> transgenic mice and cultured for 7 days <i>in vitro</i> (A) showed expression of GFP (green - identifying rod photoreceptors), β-III-tubulin (red - identifying neurons), or GFAP (white - identifying glial cells; merged images additionally contain nuclear DAPI staining). ‘RSCs’ generated from <i>rhoEGFP</i> transgenic mice and propagated <i>in vitro</i> for 6 passages were subjected to priming (B) or Notch inhibition with DAPT (D; C represents the DMSO control) differentiation conditions for 10 days. ‘RSCs’ differentiated into β-III-tubulin-positive neurons (red) and GFAP-positive glia (white), but did not show GFP expression indicative for photoreceptor differentiation (B, C, D). Scale bars: 20 um.</p