Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: CRALBP is expressed in retinal pigment epithelium and Müller glial cells, and facilitates visual pigment regeneration. Mutations in the human CRALBP gene (RLBP1) are associated with a recessive form of retinitis punctata albescens. The purpose of this study is to obtain a better understanding of CRALBP function by characterising zebrafish CRALBP. Methods: To identify zebrafish CRALBP orthologues, bioinformatic searches were performed. Primers were designed and full–length cDNAs for zebrafish rlbp1 and rlbp1l were amplified and subcloned. The expression of the rlbp1 and rlbp1l mRNAs was determined by in situ hybridisation using digoxigenin–labelled probes over a developmental time–course. Results: Two orthologues of human CRALBP were identified in the zebrafish genome. Zebrafish rlbp1 and rlbp1l are expressed in the retina and pineal from 2 days post–fertilisation through adulthood. Conclusions: Zebrafish have two CRALBP orthologues, and both genes are expressed in the retina and the pineal. Further characterisations of the zebrafish CRALBP orthologues using loss–of–function approaches will be presented.
Keywords: retinoids/retinoid binding proteins • gene/expression • retina