Figure 11.

Isolated primary porcine RPE maintain organization and pigmentation through 20 weeks of aging while also showing evidence of lipid trafficking through membrane pores and basement membrane development

Transwell membranes were fixed and flatmounted or cryosectioned using the outlined protocol. Brightfield images of flatmounted RPE reveal persistence of pigment throughout 20-week aging period (A), while ZO-1 staining revealed presence of tight junctions and polygonal morphology (B). Cryosections demonstrated evidence of lipid deposition through membrane pores, shown by nile red lipid stain (C) and evidence of a collagenous basement membrane via collagen V staining (E). Nile red stained membrane only and secondary antibody only controls (D and F). Brightfield images of cryosections show maintenance of pigment (G).