Table 1. Origin of human tissue

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) was isolated from eyes without choroidal neovascularization (CNV). These eyes were obtained from multi organ donors after removal of cornea for transplantation. CNV is derived from choroidal neovascular tissue of patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD); removal of CNV tissue was indicated by individuell clinical picture. All AMD patients suffered from wet AMD. Since only 46% of RPE cells in CNV tissue express voltage-dependent channels, a larger number of patients is included in this study.

Patient information       RPE       CNV
--------------------   --------   --------
Number of patients        7          18
Mean age of patients   69.0±1.6   70.7±4.0
Male                      3          7
Female                    4          11