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Crb apical polarity proteins maintain zebrafish retinal cone mosaics via intercellular binding of their extracellular domains.

ABSTRACT: Cone photoreceptors are assembled by unknown mechanisms into geometrically regular mosaics in many vertebrate species. The formation and maintenance of photoreceptor mosaics are speculated to require differential cell-cell adhesion. However, the molecular basis for this theory has yet to be identified. The retina and many other tissues express Crumbs (Crb) polarity proteins. The functions of the extracellular domains of Crb proteins remain to be understood. Here we report cell-type-specific expression of the crb2a and crb2b genes at the cell membranes of photoreceptor inner segments and Müller cell apical processes in the zebrafish retina. We demonstrate that the extracellular domains of Crb2a and Crb2b mediate a cell-cell adhesion function, which plays an essential role in maintaining the integrity of photoreceptor layer and cone mosaics. Because Crb proteins are expressed in many types of epithelia, the Crb-based cell-cell adhesion may underlie cellular patterning in other epithelium-derived tissues as well.

SUBMITTER: Zou J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3376241 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Crb apical polarity proteins maintain zebrafish retinal cone mosaics via intercellular binding of their extracellular domains.

Zou Jian J Wang Xiaolei X Wei Xiangyun X

Developmental cell 20120510 6

Cone photoreceptors are assembled by unknown mechanisms into geometrically regular mosaics in many vertebrate species. The formation and maintenance of photoreceptor mosaics are speculated to require differential cell-cell adhesion. However, the molecular basis for this theory has yet to be identified. The retina and many other tissues express Crumbs (Crb) polarity proteins. The functions of the extracellular domains of Crb proteins remain to be understood. Here we report cell-type-specific expr ...[more]

PMID: 22579223

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Project description:The various types of retinal neurons are each positioned at their respective depths within the retina where they are believed to be assembled as orderly mosaics, in which like-type neurons minimize proximity to one another. Two common statistical analyses for assessing the spatial properties of retinal mosaics include the nearest neighbor analysis, from which an index of their "regularity" is commonly calculated, and the density recovery profile derived from autocorrelation analysis, revealing the presence of an exclusion zone indicative of anti-clustering. While each of the spatial statistics derived from these analyses, the regularity index and the effective radius, can be useful in characterizing such properties of orderly retinal mosaics, they are rarely sufficient for conveying the natural variation in the self-spacing behavior of different types of retinal neurons and the extent to which that behavior generates uniform intercellular spacing across the mosaic. We consider the strengths and limitations of these and other spatial statistical analyses for assessing the patterning in retinal mosaics, highlighting a number of misconceptions and their frequent misuse. Rather than being diagnostic criteria for determining simply whether a population is "regular," they should be treated as descriptive statistics that convey variation in the factors that influence neuronal positioning. We subsequently apply multiple spatial statistics to the analysis of eight different mosaics in the mouse retina, demonstrating conspicuous variability in the degree of patterning present, from essentially random to notably regular. This variability in patterning has both a developmental as well as a functional significance, reflecting the rules governing the positioning of different types of neurons as the architecture of the retina is assembled, and the distinct mechanisms by which they regulate dendritic growth to generate their characteristic coverage and connectivity.

Dataset Information

Crb apical polarity proteins maintain zebrafish retinal cone mosaics via intercellular binding of their extracellular domains.

Publications

Crb apical polarity proteins maintain zebrafish retinal cone mosaics via intercellular binding of their extracellular domains.

Similar Datasets

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