Journal
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
Volume 164, Issue 3, Pages 373-383Publisher
ROCKEFELLER UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1083/jcb.200311079
Keywords
retinoid cycle; photoreceptor cells; two-photon microscopy; retinal pigment epithelial cells; rhodopsin
Categories
Funding
- NEI NIH HHS [R01 EY009339, EY08123, R01 EY013385, R01 EY008123, EY09339, EY13385] Funding Source: Medline
- NIDDK NIH HHS [R01 DK053434, DK53434] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Visual sensation in vertebrates is triggered when light strikes retinal photoreceptor cells causing photoisomerization of the rhodopsin chromophore 11-cis-retinal to all-trans-retinal. The regeneration of pre-illumination conditions of the photoreceptor cells requires formation of 11-cis-retinal in the adjacent retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Using the intrinsic fluorescence of all-trans-retinyl esters, noninvasive two-photon microscopy revealed previously uncharacterized structures (6.9 +/- 1.1 mum in length and 0.8 +/- 0.2 mum in diameter) distinct from other cellular organelles, termed the retinyl ester storage particles (RESTs), or retinosomes. These structures form autonomous all-trans-retinyl ester-rich intracellular compartments distinct from other organelles and colocalize with adipose differentiation-related protein. As demonstrated by in vivo experiments using wild-type mice, the RESTs participate in 11-cis-retinal formation. RESTs accumulate in Rpe65(-/-) mice incapable of carrying out the enzymatic isomerization, and correspondingly, are absent in the eyes of Lrat(-/-) mice deficient in retinyl ester synthesis. These results indicate that RESTs located close to the RPE plasma membrane are essential components in 11-cis-retinal production.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available