title: In vivo and in vitro monitoring of phagosome maturation in retinal pigment epithelium cells.
abstract: The ingestion and degradation of photoreceptor disk membranes is a critical and major role for the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). To help elucidate the cellular events involved in this role, functional in vivo and in vitro assays need to be developed further. Here we propose a method to help monitor phagosome maturation, using antibodies against different epitopes of opsin. We show that antibodies specific for the C-terminus of opsin label only immature phagosomes located in the apical region of the RPE. In contrast, antibodies recognizing the N-terminus also label more mature phagosomes, located more basally. The combined use of antibodies against different opsin epitopes thus provides a valuable tool in the study of phagosome maturation in the RPE.
authors.affiliation: Stein Eye Institute, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Doris Stein Building, 200 Stein Plaza, 90095, Los Angeles, CA, USA, jesteve@ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Esteve-Rudd
authors.forename: Vanda S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D051379:Mice; D055355:Opsins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010588:Phagosomes / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D055214:Retinal Photoreceptor Cell Outer Segment / Q000502:physiology*; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D055355:Opsins