Search results for " pigment"

Primary Cilium Mediated Retinal Pigment Epithelium Maturation is Retarded in Ciliopathy Patient Cells

2018

Primary cilia are sensory organelles that protrude from the cell membrane. Cilia defects cause ciliopathy disorders with retinal degeneration as a prominent phenotype. Here, we demonstrate that the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), essential for photoreceptor development and function, requires a functional primary cilium for complete maturation, and RPE maturation defects in ciliopathies precede photoreceptor development. Pharmacologically enhanced ciliogenesis in wildtype induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-RPE leads to fully-mature and functional cells. Whereas, ciliopathy patient-derived iPSCs-RPE and wildtype iPSC-RPE with a knockdown of ciliary-trafficking protein remain immature, w…

2021

Primary cilia are sensory organelles vital for developmental and physiological processes. Their dysfunction causes a range of phenotypes including retinopathies. Although primary cilia have been described in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), little is known about their contribution to biological processes within this tissue. Ciliary proteins are increasingly being identified in non-ciliary locations and might carry out additional functions, disruption of which possibly contributes to pathology. The RPE is essential for maintaining photoreceptor cells and visual function. We demonstrate that upon loss of Bbs8, predominantly thought to be a ciliary gene, the RPE shows changes in gene and …

SANS (USH1G) expression in developing and mature mammalian retina

2008

AbstractThe human Usher syndrome (USH) is the most common form of combined deaf-blindness. Usher type I (USH1), the most severe form, is characterized by profound congenital deafness, constant vestibular dysfunction and prepubertal-onset of retinitis pigmentosa. Five corresponding genes of the six USH1 genes have been cloned so far. The USH1G gene encodes the SANS (scaffold protein containing ankyrin repeats and SAM domain) protein which consists of protein motifs known to mediate protein–protein interactions. Recent studies indicated SANS function as a scaffold protein in the protein interactome related to USH.Here, we generated specific antibodies for SANS protein expression analyses. Our…

Retinal Sensibility to Drugs in Normal Rats and Carriers of Inherited Retinal Degeneration

1972

Secondary retinitis pigmentosa of pseudo-retinitis pigmentosa can be brought about by certain diseases, especially exanthematic or viral ones.

Phosphodiesterase inhibition induces retinal degeneration, oxidative stress and inflammation in cone-enriched cultures of porcine retina.

2013

nherited retinal degenerations affecting both rod and cone photoreceptors constitute one of the causes 74 of incurable blindness in the developed world. Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) is crucial in the 75 phototransduction and, mutations in genes related to its metabolism are responsible for different retinal 76 dystrophies. cGMP-degrading phosphodiesterase 6 (PDE6) mutations cause around 4e5% of the retinitis 77 pigmentosa, a rare form of retinal degeneration. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether phar- 78 macological PDE6 inhibition induced retinal degeneration in cone-enriched cultures of porcine retina 79 similar to that found in murine models. PDE6 inhibition was induced…

Retinol and retinyl esters in pigment epithelium of rats with inherited retinal degeneration

1976

A comparative study of the retinol and retinyl ester concentrations was performed in the retinal pigment epithelium of the normal and affected rats. Our findings indicate that in dystrophic rat retinol content increases, whereas the amount of retinyl esters is always lower than normal. An hypothesis can be made on the deficiency of enzymic activities which regulate retinol retinol and retinyl esters levels in the pigment epithelium.

Combination of Resveratrol with omega-3 fatty acids synergize to counteract VEGF-R pathway in sick retinal pigment epithelium cells mimicking AMD

2015

Purpose The aim of this work is to assess whether RSV (Resveratrol) can act synergistically with omega-3 fatty acids to modulate VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) signaling pathway in order to identify a new and more effective therapy for the treatment of AMD (Age-Related Macular Degeneration). Methods In this study, undifferentiated and differentiated human retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19) were used. The cells were treated with an omega-3/RSV preparation (Resvega®), or a RSV-free formulation or RSV alone for 24 h. The expression of key proteins in VEGF signaling pathway was evaluated by Western Blotting. Results We observed that the combination omega-3/RSV preparation (Re…

Rhodopsin transport in the membrane of the connecting cilium of mammalian photoreceptor cells

2000

The transport of the photopigment rhodopsin from the inner segment to the photosensitive outer segment of vertebrate photoreceptor cells has been one of the main remaining mysteries in photoreceptor cell biology. Because of the lack of any direct evidence for the pathway through the photoreceptor cilium, alternative extracellular pathways have been proposed. Our primary aim in the present study was to resolve rhodopsin trafficking from the inner to the outer segment. We demonstrate, predominantly by high-sensitive immunoelectron microscopy, that rhodopsin is also densely packed in the membrane of the photoreceptor connecting cilium. Present prominent labeling of rhodopsin in the ciliary mem…

Peripherin-2 couples rhodopsin to the CNG channel in outer segments of rod photoreceptors.

2014

Outer segments (OS) of rod photoreceptors are cellular compartments specialized in the conversion of light into electrical signals. This process relies on the light-triggered change in the intracellular levels of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), which in turn controls the activity of cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channels in the rod OS plasma membrane. The rod CNG channel is a macromolecular complex that in its core harbors the ion-conducting CNGA1 and CNGB1a subunits. To identify additional proteins of the complex that interact with the CNGB1a core subunit we applied affinity purification of mouse retinal proteins followed by mass spectrometry. In combination with in vitro and in viv…

Usher Syndrome Protein Network Functions in the Retina and their Relation to Other Retinal Ciliopathies

2014

The human Usher syndrome (USH) is the most frequent cause of combined hereditary deaf-blindness. USH is genetically and clinically heterogeneous: 15 chromosomal loci assigned to 3 clinical types, USH1-3. All USH1 and 2 proteins are organized into protein networks by the scaffold proteins harmonin (USH1C), whirlin (USH2D) and SANS (USH1G). This has contributed essentially to our current understanding of the USH protein function in the eye and the ear and explains why defects in proteins of different families cause very similar phenotypes. Ongoing in depth analyses of USH protein networks in the eye indicated cytoskeletal functions as well as roles in molecular transport processes and ciliary…