Zz. Liu et al., CRITICAL ROLE OF TRKB AND BRAIN-DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR IN THE DIFFERENTIATION AND SURVIVAL OF RETINAL-PIGMENT EPITHELIUM, The Journal of neuroscience, 17(22), 1997, pp. 8749-8755
In the vertebrate eye, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and the ne
ural retina arise from a single layer of neuroectoderm. Factors influe
ncing the differentiation of retinal neurons have been identified; how
ever, little is known about molecules directing the differentiation of
the RPE. Here we have found that the neurotrophin brain-derived neuro
trophic factor (BDNF) plays an autocrine role in the differentiation a
nd survival of Xenopus laevis RPE. Fluorescent in situ hybridization s
tudies showed a precise cc-expression of BDNF and its receptor trkB in
the retinal neuroepithelium and actively differentiating RPE; in vitr
o studies demonstrated survival- and differentiation-promoting effects
in serum-free explants and dissociated cultures. When a dominant nega
tive mutant of the trkB receptor was expressed in developing embryos,
severe arrest of RPE differentiation was seen with persistence of nest
in- and Notch-positive neuroblasts.