Fig. 4 Electron micrograph of the retinal pigment epithelium in association with the outer segments of rods and cones. Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) contains numerous elongated melanin granules that are aggregated in the apical portion of the cell, where the microvilli extend from the surface toward the outer segments of the rod and cone cells. The retina pigment epithelial cells contain numerous mitochondria and phagosomes. The arrow indicates the location of the junction complex between two adjacent cells, ×20,000. (Courtesy of Dr. Toichiro Kuwabara and reproduced from Ross et al. 2003)