INHERITED RETINAL DEGENERATION - BASIC FGF INDUCES PHAGOCYTIC COMPETENCE IN CULTURED RPE CELLS FROM RCS RATS

In RCS rats, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is defective in phag ocytosis of photoreceptor membranes. We have previously shown reduced expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in the RPE of 7-10 -day-old RCS rats. This study using primary RPE cultures from rats of this age demonstrates that the phagocytic defect in the mutant RPE can be overcome by treatment with bFGF, by a mechanism involving gene tra nscription and that normal RPE phagocytosis, also requiring transcript ion, is blocked by st bFGF neutralizing antibody, The combined data po int to a role for bFGF in the normal mechanism of RPE phagocytosis and the RCS defect. (C) 1997 Federation of European Biochemical Societies .