Key Role for CRB2 in the Maintenance of Apicobasal Polarity in Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells

Apicobasal polarity is essential for epithelial cell function, yet the roles of different proteins in its completion is not fully understood. Here, we have studied the role of the polarity protein, CRB2, in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells during polarization in vitro, and in mature muri...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Paniagua, Antonio E., Segurado Gelado, Alicia, Fernández Dolón, Jorge, Esteve-Rudd, Julián, Velasco Arranz, María Almudena, Williams, David S., Lillo Delgado, María Concepción
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repository:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/155101
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/155101
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:CRB2
cell polarity
epithelium
differentiation
retina
RPE-retinal pigment epithelium
Crb complex
cell junctions
Retinal Diseases
Retinal Pigment Epithelium
2490 Neurociencias
enfermedades de la retina
epitelio pigmentado de la retina
Description
Summary:Apicobasal polarity is essential for epithelial cell function, yet the roles of different proteins in its completion is not fully understood. Here, we have studied the role of the polarity protein, CRB2, in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells during polarization in vitro, and in mature murine RPE cells in vivo. After establishing a simplified protocol for the culture of human fetal RPE cells, we studied the temporal sequence of the expression and localization of polarity and cell junction proteins during polarization in these epithelial cells. We found that CRB2 plays a key role in tight junction maintenance as well as in cell cycle arrest. In addition, our studies in vivo show that the knockdown of CRB2 in the RPE affects to the distribution of different apical polarity proteins and results in perturbed retinal homeostasis, manifested by the invasion of activated microglial cells into the subretinal space. Together our results demonstrate that CRB2 is a key protein for the development and maintenance of a polarized epithelium.