Patent ID: 9730962
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: A61K,A61P,C12N

Claim:
1. A method of generating a retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell preparation suitable for transplantation therapy comprising: (a) obtaining RPE cells that have a cobblestone polygonal epithelial-like cellular morphology and pigmentation, wherein the RPE cells include cells that express RPE65 and bestrophin; (b) dispersing the RPE cells and culturing the dispersed RPE cells under adherent conditions in the presence of basic FGF, wherein the cultured RPE cells dedifferentiate and proliferate, losing pigmentation and epithelial-like morphology; (c) culturing the dedifferentiated cells in the absence of basic FGF, wherein the cells form an RPE cell monolayer, become quiescent, and regain pigmentation and epithelial-like morphology, and wherein the RPE cell monolayer includes cells that express RPE65 and bestrophin; and (d) expanding the RPE cells by repeating steps (b) and (c) through multiple passages.