REGULATION OF LENS PHENOTYPE VIA TRANSLATIONAL REPRESSION OF RETINAL MARKERS BY LACTASE LIKE & AN INVESTIGATION OF POSTERIOR CAPSULAR OPACIFICATION
Date
2020-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The mammalian eye consists of many structures that work together to allow for proper vision. Importantly, the lens, a transparent structure which sits behind the cornea and iris, must develop properly and remain clear, otherwise it can cloud and form a cataract. A major pathway responsible for lens development is fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling. During this process, lens epithelial cells differentiate into fiber cells. Some fibroblast growth factors require extra proteins, klothos, to assist in binding their receptors. While alpha and beta family klothos are not expressed in the lens, gamma family klotho (LCTL) is expressed highly in adult lens and LCTL null mice develop mild lens opacities. However, the mechanisms underlying its function in the lens are unknown. Previous RNA sequencing of LCTL null lenses revealed that they upregulate the expression of retinal genes and neural markers, leading to my hypothesis that LCTL plays a role in repressing retinal genes in lens cells. However, this result could also simply be due to contamination of the dissected lenses used in the experiment with retinal tissue. Preliminary protein data is discordant with the upregulation of retinal gene expression observed via RNA sequencing. It is possible that this results from translational control of the upregulated messages, or contamination of the prior experiment with retinal tissue. Future testing of LCTL lenses by RT-qPCR, and investigation of the role of LCTL in lens injury responses is required to determine if LCTL plays alternative roles lens development and maintenance.
Description
Keywords
biological science, lens phenotype, retinal markers capsular opacification