Retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) have a broad spectrum of function in vivo such as phagocytosis of POS. Therefore loss of this layer could effect on vision in disease such as age related macular degeneration. Production of cells that have function in vitro is the first step to try treatment of disease related to the sensory retina and RPE layer.

Bone marrow stromal stem cells extracted from male sprago-dawly rats and after cultivation, differentiated to neural stem cells. then NSCs again differentiated to retinal pigmented epithelium and after 7-14 days, phagocytosis ability of them investigated with internalization of POS labeled with fluorescent dye from same retina.

Results showed that NSCs could differentiated to retinal pigment epithelium that phagocytosis of POS and internalize it in vitro.

In our investigation for the first time, differentiation of NSCs to RPE cells well done in vitro. Moreover this cells could phagocyte and internalized POS in vitro that is very important for cell therapy in degenerative disease such as age related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.