Improved differentiation of Retinal Organoids stem cells derived using rotating-wall vessels

Herein, scientists report a bioprocess using Synthecon rotating-wall vessel (RWV) bioreactors to culture retinal organoids derived from mouse pluripotent stem cells. Organoids in RWV demonstrate enhanced proliferation, with well-defined morphology and improved differentiation of neurons including ganglion cells and S-cone photoreceptors. Furthermore, RWV organoids at day 25 (D25) reveal similar maturation and transcriptome profile as those at D32 in static culture, closely recapitulating spatiotemporal development of postnatal day 6 mouse retina in vivo. Interestingly, however, retinal organoids do not differentiate further under any in vitro condition tested here, suggesting additional requirements for functional maturation. Studies demonstrate that bioreactors can dramatically accelerate and improve organoid growth and differentiation for modeling retinal disease and evaluation of therapies.

Read the whole paper!