CULTURE AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SMOOTH-MUSCLE CELLS FROM PORCINE RETINAL MICROVESSELS

Purpose: To establish long-term cultures of retinal vascular smooth mu scle cells for future studies of their functions under normal and dise ased conditions.Methods: Smooth muscle cells (SMC) from porcine retina l microvessels were isolated and cultured. Results: Cells in culture r etained the common biochemical characteristics of SMC propagated from other sources. The cells were large, polygonal, spindle shaped and dem onstrated the presence of smooth muscle-specific alpha-actin. Post-con fluent cultures showed the 'hill and valley' multilayer growth charact eristics.However, the growth rate was lower and the population doublin g time was significantly larger than those reported for SMC propagated from big vessels. Conclusion: Retinal vascular SMC could be cultured separately from other cell types.The availability of this culture prov ides a unique model for functional and metabolic studies of the retina l vessels.