Genetic profiling of developing human embryonic stem cell derived Retinal pigmented epithelium

Age-related macular degeneration is a progressive disease resulting in impaired central vision. Degeneration of the retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) monolayer is associated with the progression of the disease. To date no treatment is able to stop this progression, however new cell replacement studies using human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to generate RPE show a promising prospective. To improve cell replacement strategies a better understanding about the development of RPE cells is necessary. In the current study we therefore do extensive genetic profiling of hESC derived RPE cells at different stages during development based on their pigmentation. Start pigmentation samples (n=6, Cy5) were compared with late pigmentation samples (n=6, Cy5). Data was normalized on pooled common reference (Cy3) expression using R LIMMA