Figure 1.

Phase-contrast microscopic images of hES-RPE cells derived from hES-3 stem cell line. After neural precursor induction and RPE spontaneous differentiation, the pigmented hexagonal RPE cells appeared as early as 4 weeks in our culture conditions and reached a high enough cell count for subculture at approximately 8 weeks. The hES-RPE cells could be subcultured for 5 to 6 passages and still retain their pigmented hexagonal morphology. (A) RPE-like cells differentiated from one embryoid body and cultured in the differentiation medium for 8 weeks. (B) Passage 3 hES-RPE cells cultured for 4 weeks.