title: Ultimate fate of rod outer segments in the retinal pigment epithelium.
abstract: To investigate the degradation pathway of rod outer segments (ROS) in vivo, we injected gold-labeled ROS into the subretinal space of rabbits using a pars plana approach. Histology and electron microscopy performed on the specimens 72 hr after ROS injection revealed that the retina over the injection site was reattached, the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells were intact, and gold granules were localized inside melanin granules and melanosomes. These results indicate that, in RPE, in vivo degradation of ROS is associated with melanosomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vitreoretinal Surgery, University of Cologne, Germany. thumannga@aol.com
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thumann
authors.forename: K U
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Bartz-Schmidt
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kociok
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heimann
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schraemeyer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006046:Gold / Q000378:metabolism; D008062:Lipofuscin / Q000378:metabolism; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008543:Melanins / Q000378:metabolism; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011817:Rabbits; D012374:Rod Cell Outer Segment / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D008062:Lipofuscin; D008543:Melanins; D006046:Gold