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Retinal pigment epithelium expansion around the neural retina occurs in two separate phases with distinct mechanisms
Author(s) -
Cechmanek Paula Bernice,
McFarlane Sarah
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.24525
Subject(s) - biology , optic vesicle , retinal pigment epithelium , retina , optic cup (embryology) , microbiology and biotechnology , progenitor cell , morphogenesis , anatomy , eye development , population , epithelium , neuroscience , stem cell , genetics , demography , sociology , gene , phenotype
Background: The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a specialized monolayer of epithelial cells that forms a tight barrier surrounding the neural retina. RPE cells are indispensable for mature photoreceptor renewal and survival, yet how the initial RPE cell population expands around the neural retina during eye development is poorly understood. Results: Here we characterize the differentiation, proliferation, and movements of RPE progenitors in the Zebrafish embryo over the period of optic cup morphogenesis. RPE progenitors are present in the dorsomedial eye vesicle shortly after eye vesicle evagination. We define two separate phases that allow for full RPE expansion. The first phase involves a previously uncharacterized antero‐wards expansion of the RPE progenitor domain in the inner eye vesicle leaflet, driven largely by an increase in cell number. During this phase, RPE progenitors start to express differentiation markers. In the second phase, the progenitor domain stretches in the dorsoventral and posterior axes, involving cell movements and shape changes, and coinciding with optic cup morphogenesis. Significantly, cell division is not required for RPE expansion. Conclusions: RPE development to produce the monolayer epithelium that covers the back of the neural retina occurs in two distinct phases driven by distinct mechanisms. Developmental Dynamics 246:598–609, 2017 . © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.