Cell Culture

ARPE-19 cells were kindly provided from Karsten Boldt (Tübingen) and cultured in DMEM/F-12 + GlutaMax (Gibco, #31331028) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) (LONZA), and 1% penicillin/streptomycin (Thermo Fischer, #10378016) (referred to as complete medium). BBS8 siRNA (Dharmacon, #L-021417-02-0005) and non-targeting siRNA (IDT, TriFECTa) were used to generate BBS8 KD and Non-targeting control (NTC) cells. Transfections were performed using antibiotic-free medium in 96-well plates using Lipofectamine RNAiMAX reagent (Invitrogen, #113778150) according to manufacturer's recommendations for reverse transfections. Post transfection, the cells we cultured in complete medium. The phagocytosis assay was performed 48 h post-transfection.