H-RPE: Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial

The human retinal pigment epithelium (H-RPE) consists of pigmented cells situated between the neuroretina and the choroids. The H-RPE is comprised of hexagonal cells organized into a monolayer that is densely packed with pigment granules. The H-RPE is of the neuroectodermal origin and is therefore considered to be part of the retina. H-RPE cells play a critical role in visual function and photoreceptor viability.
Lonza's H-RPE (Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial) cells are cryopreserved, primary cells that are packaged at passage 2 and contain ≥500,000 cells per vial. H-RPE are guaranteed through 5 population doublings and stain positive (≥90%) for pancytokeratin and Zo-1 and negative (≤10%) for fibroblast contamination and endothelial marker CD31 ( ≤1%). They also test negative for mycoplasma, bacteria, yeast, and fungi. HIV-1, hepatitis B and hepatitis C are not detected for all donors and/or cell lots.