Open AccessPax6 regulation of Sox9 in the retinal pigmented epithelium controls its timely differentiation and choroid vasculature development
Author(s) -
Yamit CohenTayar,
Hadar Cohen,
Yulia Mitiagin,
Zohar Abravanel,
Carmit Levy,
Masha Idelson,
Benjamin Reubinoff,
Shalev Itzkovitz,
S. Raviv,
Klaus H. Kaestner,
Pablo Blinder,
Ran Elkon,
Ruth AsheryPadan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.15
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1477-9129
pISSN - 0950-1991
DOI - 10.1242/dev.163691
Subject(s) - biology , retinal pigment epithelium , pax6 , choroid , microbiology and biotechnology , zebrafish , macular degeneration , transcription factor , retina , neuroscience , genetics , gene , ophthalmology , medicine
The synchronized differentiation of neuronal and vascular tissues is crucial for normal organ development and function, although there is limited information about the mechanisms regulating the coordinated development of these tissues. The choroid vasculature of the eye serves as the main blood supply to the metabolically active photoreceptors, and develops together with the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE). Here, we describe a novel regulatory relationship between the RPE transcription factors, Pax6 and Sox9, which control the timing of RPE differentiation, and the adjacent choroid maturation. We used a novel machine learning algorithm tool to analyze high resolution imaging of the choroid in Pax6 and Sox9 conditional mutant mice. Additional unbiased transcriptomic analyses in mutant mice and RPE cells generated from human embryonic stem cells, as well as chromatin immunoprecipitation and high throughput analyses, revealed secreted factors that are regulated by Pax6 and Sox9. These factors may be involved in choroid development and in the pathogenesis of the common blinding disease, age-related macular degeneration (AMD).