PUBLICATION

A mutation of early photoreceptor development, mikre oko, reveals cell-cell interactions involved in the survival and differentiation of zebrafish photoreceptors

Authors
Doerre, G. and Malicki, J.
ID
ZDB-PUB-010912-22
Date
2001
Source
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience   21(17): 6745-6757 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Doerre, Geoffrey, Malicki, Jarema
Keywords
retina; photoreceptor; outer segment; cell-cell signaling; genetics; zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Cell Communication/physiology*
  • Cell Differentiation/physiology*
  • Cell Survival/physiology
  • Microscopy, Confocal
  • Mosaicism
  • Mutation*
  • Phenotype
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate/cytology
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate/physiology*
  • Pigment Epithelium of Eye/cytology
  • Pigment Epithelium of Eye/embryology
  • Presynaptic Terminals/physiology
  • Presynaptic Terminals/ultrastructure
  • Retina/embryology
  • Retina/ultrastructure
  • Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells/cytology
  • Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells/cytology
  • Rod Cell Outer Segment/physiology
  • Rod Cell Outer Segment/ultrastructure
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
11517263 Full text @ J. Neurosci.
Abstract
To gain insight into mechanisms involved in photoreceptor development, we characterized a zebrafish mutation in the mikre oko locus that produces early loss of photoreceptor cells. mikre oko photoreceptors lose their elongated morphology at the time of wild-type outer segment formation and undergo cell death within a few days. To investigate whether this phenotype involves cell-cell interaction defects, we performed analysis of genetically mosaic animals. Interactions of mikre oko photoreceptors with wild-type cells rescue several aspects of the mutant phenotype. When placed in a wild-type environment, mikre oko photoreceptor cells retain elongated morphology and survive longer. Moreover, although mutant mikre oko photoreceptor outer segments develop only infrequently and are usually disorganized, mikre oko cone and rod cells in mosaic retinas develop robust outer segments that closely resemble the wild type. In contrast to the outer segments, the proximal regions of mikre oko photoreceptor cells, including their inner segments, the nuclear regions, and the synaptic termini, retain the mutant appearance. mikre oko outer segment rescue is not mediated by interactions with the retinal pigment epithelium. These studies demonstrate that the differentiation of outer segments is surprisingly independent from the more proximal photoreceptor cell features and that outer segment development includes retinal pigment epithelium-independent cell-cell interactions.
Genes / Markers
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Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping