Note the presence of an intact outer segment and outer nuclear layer at this stage. (journals.plos.org)
Our results demonstrate that iPS cells can be differentiated into functional iPS - RPE and that transplantation of these cells can facilitate the short - term maintenance of photoreceptors through phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments. (journals.plos.org)
The gene product's precise role is not currently understood but it is thought to anchor regulatory complexes at the photoreceptor connecting cilium, which acts as a bridge between the inner and outer segments of photoreceptor cells [43] as well as having functions in disk morphogenesis [42] and in the structure of the ciliary axoneme [44]. (cgejournal.biomedcentral.com)