Functional analysis of (pro)renin receptor in mouse retinal development

Abstract

Purpose: (Pro)renin receptor [(P)RR] (also called Atp6ap2), identified as a molecule existing in the major organs but not in the circulation, has attracted growing attention due to its diverse roles in tissue renin-angiotensin system and in fundamental cellular physiology. The goal of this study is to elucidate the physiological functions of Atp6ap2/(P)RR during retinal development in mice.

Methods: Atp6ap2-floxed mice were bred with Crx-Cre transgenic mice, which expresses Cre recombinase under the control of the photoreceptor-specific cone-rod homeobox (Crx) promoter. We performed several functional and anatomical investigations including electroretinography, immunoblotting and immunohistochemistory to the conditional knockout (CKO) mice and control animals.

Results: Deletion of Atp6ap2/(P)RR did not affect retinal cell differentiation, but led to laminar disorganization in the photoreceptor layer. The visual function of rod photoreceptor cells was significantly reduced. In the CKO mice, cell adhesion and cell polarity molecules, co-localized at the apical edge of the control mouse retina, were substantially dispersed.

Conclusions: Our data suggest that Atp6ap2/(P)RR may be associated with cell adhesion and cell polarity molecules, and support its potential role in building the laminar structure during retinal development.

Keywords: 446 cell adhesions/cell junctions • 698 retinal development • 648 photoreceptors