Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are critical for proper functioning of the retina. Malfunctioning of these cells has been implicated in several retinal diseases including age–related macular degeneration, Stargardt’s disease and Best’s disease. Primary RPE cells are usually in either a dedifferentiated state, characterized by loss of pigmentation and proliferation, or a differentiated state. ARPE–19 cells are a primary RPE cell line that can be grown in a dedifferentiated state or can be induced to differentiate. Methods: Two–dimensional electrophoresis (2D) coupled with matrix–assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) time of flight (ToF) mass spectrometry were utilized to examine the proteomes of dedifferentiated and differentiated ARPE–19 cells and human RPE cells. Immunoblot technology was also used to analyze expression of RPE–specific markers in each cell type. Comparison of the proteomes was accomplished using the 2D analysis software package MELANIE. Results & Conclusions: The proteomes of dedifferentiated and differentiated ARPE–19 cells were found to be drastically different from each other. The proteome of differentiated ARPE–19 cells was also observed to be more similar to human RPE cells than dedifferentiated ARPE–19 cells.
Keywords: retinal pigment epithelium • proteomics