Primary culture of rabbit retinal Müller cells in vitro and the identification

Rabbit retinal Müller cells were cultured in vitro with suspended constitution. Electron microscopy and immunocytochemical method were used to evaluate cells. The cells attached to the wall of culture dishes while growing and showed large, flattened shape. Characteristic intermediate filament (8~10 nm) could be seen in the cytoplasm by transmission electron microscopy. The cultured cells showed positive reaction for glial fibriliary acid protein (GFAP) and S-100, and negative reaction for factor VIII related antigen with an immunocytochemical assay. The tissue suspending method is a stable and reliable method to obtain rabbit retinal Müller cells.