Figure 6.Effect of BMP-4 treatment in highly differenti-ated RPE monolayers. (A)
Transepithelial resistance (TER) of polarized human RPE monolayers and
effect of rhBMP-4 treatment. TER values in human RPE monolayers, maintained
for 1 month in 1% FBS-containing medium, averaged 490 ±17 Ω. cm2
(mean ± SEM, n=48). The TER measurements in polarized RPE cells exposed to
rhBMP-4 treatment for 24 h showed no significant difference (P>0.05)
versus untreated controls (n=9/group). (B) Expression levels of
tight junction proteins, ZO-1 and occludin were not significantly different
between the BMP-4 treated and the untreated control groups. (C) No
significant cell death was observed by TUNEL staining in highly polarized
RPE cells of both untreated control and 100ng/ml BMP-4 treatment groups.
