Come to URCAD on Wednesday, April 25, Howard will present his research "Comparing The Re-Differentation Of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cell Lines Grown On Various Substrates".

The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of the eye acts as a protective barrier and transports nutrients to the retina. RPE cells can be grown in culture but they do not perfectly maintain in vivo properties. The aim of this study was to compare marker expression for RPE cells grown on plastic and transwell substrates. In order to test this, three different cell lines (RPEJ, ARPE19, and D407) were plated and grown over the course of multiple weeks to determine which surface is best for differentiation.