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The alpha 6 beta 1 integrin is a laminin receptor for developing retinal neurons.

Cultured embryionic day 6 (E6) retinal neurons respond to laminin by making use of integrin receptors. We have recently shown that the laminin binding integrin receptor alpha 6 beta 1 is expressed in the chick retina on both retinal ganglion cells and other retinal neurons. Antibodies raised against a fusion protein containing a large fragment of the extracellular portion of the chick alpha 6 integrin subunit dramatically inhibit the interactions between E6 retinal neurons and laminin. These data show that alpha 6 beta 1 functions as a laminin receptor in these cells. In previous work we have also shown that the levels of the mRNA for alpha 6 decreases dramatically in retinal ganglion cells between E6 and E12. Data presented in this paper show that the decrease in alpha 6 mRNA is not prevented by ablation of the optic tectum, indicating that contact with the target is not a major cause for this decrease.

Animals↗

Transcription of photoreceptor genes during fetal retinal development. Evidence for positive and negative regulation.

Rod photoreceptor outer segments are elaborated at approximately 6 months gestation in the cow coinciding with a dramatic increase in mRNAs encoding many visual transduction and associated proteins. Nuclear run-on determination of relative transcription rates demonstrates that gene expression follows three distinct patterns. Opsin, S-antigen, and transducin are all minimally detectable at 5.2 months gestation and increase throughout development. Only opsin demonstrates an additional sharp increase in transcriptional activity which resembles a positive gene-specific enhancer that is first effective between 6.3 and 7.4 months gestation. In contrast, interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP) transcription is already at 43% of its adult level at 5.2 months gestation. To further understand these differences, the relative contributions of initiation and elongation to nuclear run-on signals were examined using either Sarkosyl or ammonium sulfate. Transcriptional rates for S-antigen and transducin were not affected, however, opsin was reduced approximately 4-fold and IRBP was increased approximately 2-fold. Opsin is therefore likely to be initiated de novo during the run-on reaction and responds to a gene-specific positive regulator. The increase in IRBP transcription rate suggests the removal of an elongation inhibitory factor and supports the idea that a negative regulatory element may be involved in controlling IRBP expression.

Animals↗

Xenopus Pax-6 and retinal development.

We have cloned a homolog of Pax-6 in Xenopus laevis. Its deduced amino acid sequence has a 95% overall identity with Pax-6 homologs in other vertebrates. It is expressed early in development in cells fated to form the eye and parts of the forebrain, hindbrain, and spinal cord. It has two phases of expression in the eye. In the early phase, from stage 12.5 to stage 33/34, Xenopus Pax-6 is expressed throughout the developing retina. In the late phase, after stage 33/34, it is excluded from mature cells in the outer half of the retina and from cells in the ciliary marginal zone, remaining only in amacrine and ganglion cells. Misexpression of Pax-6 early in development results in axial defects, but no specific eye phenotype is observed. Targeted misexpression in the retina at later stages does not result in any significant bias toward formation of amacrine or ganglion cells or away from photoreceptors. Ectopic expression of the proneural gene NeuroD alters the pattern of Pax-6, substantially reducing its expression in the eye field and later reducing or eliminating the eye itself. Our results show that Pax-6 expression appears to be necessary, but not sufficient, for eye formation in Xenopus.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Retinal vascular development and pathologic retinal angiogenesis are not impaired in matrix metalloproteinase-2 deficient mice.

PURPOSE: Earlier studies have suggested a role for metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) in retinal angiogenesis. To investigate this further, we have studied retinal vascular development and pathologic ischemia-induced retinal angiogenesis in MMP-2-deficient and wild-type mice. METHODS: Vascular development of the retina was studied in retinal flatmounts, whereas pathologic retinal angiogenesis was analyzed in retinal flatmounts and on histologic sections using a model of ischemia-induced retinopathy. The time course of MMP-2 mRNA expression was determined by in situ hybridization and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: Formation of the retinal vascular plexus was not significantly different in MMP-2-deficient mice as compared to wild-type mice. In ischemia-induced retinopathy, there was an increased formation of extraretinal neovascular tufts in the MMP-2-deficient mice (p < 0.05). MMP-2 mRNA expression did not correlate to either retinal vascular development or to ischemia-induced formation of extraretinal vascular tufts. CONCLUSIONS: The current data suggest that MMP-2 is not essential for either retinal vascular development or pathologic retinal neovascularization in the mouse.

Animals↗

Role of the Norrie disease pseudoglioma gene in sprouting angiogenesis during development of the retinal vasculature.

PURPOSE: To characterize developmental defects and the time course of Norrie disease in retinal and hyaloid vasculature during retinal development and to identify underlying molecular angiogenic pathways that may be affected in Norrie disease, exudative vitreoretinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity, and Coats' disease. METHODS: Norrie disease pseudoglioma homologue (Ndph)-knockout mice were studied during retinal development at early postnatal (p) stages (p5, p10, p15, and p21). Histologic techniques, quantitative RT-PCR, ELISA, and Western blot analyses provided molecular data, and scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) angiography and electroretinography (ERG) were used to obtain in vivo data. RESULTS: The data showed that regression of the hyaloid vasculature of Ndph-knockout mice occurred but was drastically delayed. The development of the superficial retinal vasculature was strongly delayed, whereas the deep retinal vasculature did not form because of the blockage of vessel outgrowth into the deep retinal layers. Subsequently, microaneurysm-like lesions formed. Several angiogenic factors were differentially transcribed during retinal development. Increased levels of hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF1alpha) and VEGFA, as well as a characteristic ERG pattern, confirmed hypoxic conditions in the inner retina of the Ndph-knockout mouse. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide evidence for a crucial role of Norrin in hyaloid vessel regression and in sprouting angiogenesis during retinal vascular development, especially in the development of the deep retinal capillary networks. They also suggest an early and a late phase of Norrie disease and may provide an explanation for similar phenotypic features of allelic retinal diseases in mice and patients as secondary consequences of pathologic hypoxia.

Animals↗

Changing sensitivity to cell death during development of retinal photoreceptors.

Photoreceptor cell death occurs during both normal and pathological retinal development. We tested for selective induction and blockade of cell death in either retinal photoreceptors or their precursors. Organotypical retinal explants from rats at postnatal days 3-11 were treated in vitro for 24 hr with thapsigargin, okadaic acid, etoposide, anisomycin, or forskolin. Explant sections were examined for cell death, and identification of either photoreceptors or proliferating/immediate postmitotic cells followed imunohistochemistry for either rhodopsin or bromodeoxyuridine and proliferating cell nuclear antigen, respectively. Photoreceptor cell death was selectively induced by either thapsigargin or okadaic acid, whereas death of proliferating/immediate postmitotic cells was induced by etoposide. Prelabeling of proliferating precursors allowed direct demonstration of changing sensitivity of photoreceptors to various chemicals. Degeneration of both photoreceptors and proliferating/immediate postmitotic cells depended on protein synthesis. Increase of intracellular cyclic AMP blocked degeneration of postmitotic, but not of proliferating, photoreceptor precursors. The selective induction and blockade of cell death show that developing photoreceptors undergo progressive changes in mechanisms of programmed cell death associated with phenotypic differentiation.

Animals↗

BMPR-II expression and OP-1 effects in developing chicken retinal explants.

Low-stringency PCR was used to isolate the chicken homologue of the human bone morphogenetic protein receptor type II (BMPR-II). In situ hybridization localized mRNA expression for this serine/threonine kinase receptor. It was weakly expressed in the vitreal side of the neural retina at E6. In the E7 chicken, fairly strong labelling was found in cells of the internal part of the neural retina. At E9, strong labelling was found in the region of the retinal ganglion cells. Explants of E6 retina exposed to osteogenic protein-1 (OP-1/BMP-7), exhibited dense retinal fibre outgrowth. This suggests that BMPR-II may form a signalling receptor complex important for retinal development. OP-1 and related ligands may serve functions supplementary to those of neurotrophins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Immunocytochemical localization of opsin in the cell membrane of developing rat retinal photoreceptors.

Mature retinal rod photoreceptors sequester opsin in the disk and plasma membranes of the rod outer segment (ROS). Opsin is synthesized in the inner segment and is transferred to the outer segment along the connecting cilium that joins the two compartments. We have investigated early stages of retinal development during which the polarized distribution of opsin is established in the rod photoreceptor cell. Retinas were isolated from newborn rats, 3-21 d old, and incubated with affinity purified biotinyl-sheep anti-bovine opsin followed by avidin-ferritin. At early postnatal ages prior to the development of the ROS, opsin is labeled by antiopsin on the inner segment plasma membrane. At the fifth postnatal day, as ROS formation begins opsin was detected on the connecting cilium plasma membrane. However, the labeling density of the ciliary plasma membrane was not uniform: the proximal cilium was relatively unlabeled in comparison with the distal cilium and the ROS plasma membrane. In nearly mature rat retinas, opsin was no longer detected on the inner segment plasma membrane. A similar polarized distribution of opsin was also observed in adult human rod photoreceptor cells labeled with the same antibodies. These results suggest that some component(s) of the connecting cilium and its plasma membrane may participate in establishing and maintaining the polarized distribution of opsin.

Age Factors↗

Excess of serotonin (5-HT) alters the segregation of ispilateral and contralateral retinal projections in monoamine oxidase A knock-out mice: possible role of 5-HT uptake in retinal ganglion cells during development.

Retinal ganglion cell (RGCs) project to the ipsilateral and contralateral sides of the brain in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) and the superior colliculus (SC). Projections from both eyes are initially intermingled until postnatal day 3 (P3) but segregate into eye-specific layers by P8. We report that this segregation does not occur in monoamine oxidase A knock-out mice (MAOA-KO) that have elevated brain levels of serotonin (5-HT) and noradrenaline. The abnormal development of retinal projections can be reversed by inhibiting 5-HT synthesis from P0 to P15. We found that in MAOA-KO mice, 5-HT accumulates in a subpopulation of RGCs and axons during embryonic and early postnatal development. The RGCs do not synthesize 5-HT but reuptake the amine from the extracellular space. In both MAOA-KO and normal mice, high-affinity uptake of 5-HT and serotonin transporter (SERT) immunoreactivity are observed in retinal axons from the optic cup to retinal terminal fields in the SC and dLGN. In the dLGN, transient SERT labeling corresponds predominantly to the ipsilateral retinal projection fields. We show that, in addition to SERT, developing RGCs also transiently express the vesicular monoamine transporter gene VMAT2: thus, retinal axons could store 5-HT in synaptic vesicles and possibly use it as a borrowed neurotransmitter. Finally we show that the 5-HT-1B receptor gene is expressed by RGCs throughout the retina from E15 until adult life. Activation of this receptor is known, from previous studies, to reduce retinotectal activity; thus 5-HT in excess could inhibit activity-dependent segregation mechanisms. A hypothesis is proposed whereby, during normal development, localized SERT expression could confer specific neurotransmission properties on a subset of RGCs and could be important in the fine-tuning of retinal projections.

Animals↗

Thrombospondin-1-deficient mice exhibit increased vascular density during retinal vascular development and are less sensitive to hyperoxia-mediated vessel obliteration.

Thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) is a natural inhibitor of angiogenesis. Its expression is most prominent during the late stages of vascular development and in the adult vasculature. Our previous studies have shown that TSP1 expression promotes a quiescent, differentiated phenotype of vascular endothelial cells. However, the physiological role TSP1 plays during vascular development and neovascularization requires further delineation. Here, we investigated the role of TSP1 during development of retinal vasculature and retinal neovascularization during oxygen-induced ischemic retinopathy. The retinal vascular density was increased in TSP1-deficient (TSP1-/-) mice compared with wild-type mice. This finding was mainly attributed to increased number of retinal endothelial cells in TSP1-/- mice. During oxygen-induced ischemic retinopathy, the developing retinal vasculature of TSP1-/- mice was less sensitive to vessel obliteration induced by hyperoxia but exhibited a similar level of neovascularization induced by normoxia compared with wild-type mice. This finding is consistent with the similar pattern of VEGF expression detected in wild-type and TSP1-/- mice. Furthermore, the increased expression of TSP1 during development of retinal vasculature was not affected by oxygen-induced ischemic retinopathy. In addition, the regression of ocular embryonic (hyaloid) vessels, as well as the newly formed retinal vessels during oxygen-induced ischemic retinopathy, was delayed in TSP1-/- mice. Therefore, TSP1 is a modulator of vascular homeostasis and its expression is essential for appropriate remodeling and maturation of retinal vasculature.

Animals↗

Gicerin, a cell adhesion molecule, participates in the histogenesis of retina.

Gicerin is a novel cell adhesion molecule that belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily. Gicerin protein adheres to neurite outgrowth factor (NOF), an extracellular matrix protein in the laminin family, and also exhibits homophilic adhesion. Heterophilic adhesion of gicerin to NOF is thought to play an active role in neurite outgrowth of developing retinal cells in vitro. In this study, we examined the adhesion activity of gicerin during the retinal development of Japanese quail using an antibody directed against gicerin, to elucidate the biological importance of gicerin in retinal histogenesis. Immunohistochemical and Western blot analysis showed that gicerin was highly expressed in the developing retina but suppressed in the mature retina. The aggregation of neural retinal cells from 5-day embryonic quail retina was significantly inhibited when incubated with a polyclonal antibody to gicerin, suggesting that gicerin protein participates in the adhesion of neural retinal cells of the developing retina. Furthermore, histogenesis of retina both in the organ cultures and in ovo embryos was severely disrupted by incubation with a gicerin antibody. These findings provide evidence that gicerin plays an important role in retinal histogenesis.

Animals↗

Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment complicating cytomegalovirus retinitis.

Six eyes in four patients with cytomegalovirus retinitis developed retinal holes and retinal detachment. Holes appeared in areas of necrosis and were typically large and round with shaggy edges. Differentiation from exudative detachment was sometimes difficult because of obscuration of the fundus by vitreous haze. Cryotherapy was successful in closing open breaks without detachment; cryotherapy and exoplant surgery were used effectively to treat the initial detachments. The occurrence of massive periretinal proliferation and late development of new areas of hole formation or retinitis complicated therapy for these detachments.

Adult↗

Patterning the vertebrate retina: the early appearance of retinal mosaics.

The vertebrate retina is an extraordinary example of the modular design of the nervous tissue. Retinal neurons are organized in layers and, within each layer, cells of the same type commonly form orderly planar arrays - the retinal mosaics - which provide the basis for powerful parallel processing of the visual scene. Recent evidence indicates that the assembly of neuronal mosaics is an early event in retinal development, a finding with important implications for the control of genesis, fate determination, migration and death of developing retinal neurons.

Animals↗

The distribution of c-myb immunoreactivities in the adult mouse retina.

The myb gene family is composed of three different myb-related genes, A-, B- and c-myb. Among these, the presence of c-myb mRNA in developing and adult retina was previously reported. However, further study on the expression of c-myb in the retina is warranted because the previous study was only performed on developing retinal tissues by in situ hybridization technique. Therefore, in this study, we tried to perform immunohistochemical study, with a focus on the c-myb protein expression in adult retina. Although the cell types were unconfirmed, c-myb protein was likely to have been found in the ganglion, amacrine, horizontal and photoreceptor cells, judging from their locations and morphologies. The experimental data suggested that c-myb immunoreactivities were expressed by the cells in the neural retina, even in the adult stage, especially within some types of cells in specified retinal layers. This suggests that c-myb might play a role in the physiology of the retinal cells, not only in differentiation during retinal development.

Animals↗