Retinal Cell and Tissue Culture

A method for culturing retinal progenitor cells and their progeny is described. The dissociated cell culture is useful to study isolated cells and the influence of cell intrinsic and environmental signals on various cellular processes. The retinal explant assay reproduces the three-dimensional environment observed in vivo and is useful in the study of retinas from mutant mice that are, for example, embryonic lethal. In addition, such retinal explants can be used to easily manipulate gene expression in embryonic retinas using viral vectors or electroporation.