A Co-culture Model for Determining the Target Specificity of the Generated Retinal Ganglion Cells.

In glaucoma, the output neurons of the retina, the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), progressively degenerate, leading to irreversible blindness (Ahram , 2015). The stem cell method to replace degenerated RGCs remains a potentially viable approach (Levin , 2004). However, the success of the approach depends upon the ability of the generated RGCs to connect over the long distance with specific targets in the central visual pathway. Here, we describe a protocol to examine the target specificity of the generated RGCs using a co-culture approach where the RGCs neurites are allowed to choose between specific (superior colliculus; SC) and non-specific (inferior colliculus; IC) tectal targets.