Visual sensation in vertebrates is triggered when light strikes retinal photoreceptor cells causing photoisomerization of the rhodopsin chromophore 11-cis-retinal to all-trans-retinal. The regeneration of preillumination conditions of the photoreceptor cells requires formation of 11-cis-retinal in the adjacent retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Using the intrinsic fluorescence of all-trans-retinyl esters, noninvasive two-photon microscopy revealed previously uncharacterized structures (6.9 ± 1.1 μm in length and 0.8 ± 0.2 μm in diameter) distinct from other cellular organelles, termed the retinyl ester storage particles (RESTs), or retinosomes. These structures form autonomous all-trans-retinyl ester-rich intracellular compartments distinct from other organelles and colocalize with adipose differentiation-related protein. As demonstrated by in vivo experiments using wild-type mice, the RESTs participate in 11-cis-retinal formation. RESTs accumulate in Rpe65−/− mice incapable of carrying out the enzymatic isomerization, and correspondingly, are absent in the eyes of Lrat−/− mice deficient in retinyl ester synthesis. These results indicate that RESTs located close to the RPE plasma membrane are essential components in 11-cis-retinal production.
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2 February 2004
Article|
January 26 2004
Noninvasive two-photon imaging reveals retinyl ester storage structures in the eye
Yoshikazu Imanishi,
Yoshikazu Imanishi
1Departments of Ophthalmology
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Matthew L. Batten,
Matthew L. Batten
1Departments of Ophthalmology
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David W. Piston,
David W. Piston
4Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232
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Wolfgang Baehr,
Wolfgang Baehr
5Departments of Ophthalmology, Biology, and Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah Health Science Center, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
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Krzysztof Palczewski
Krzysztof Palczewski
1Departments of Ophthalmology
2Pharmacology,
3Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
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Yoshikazu Imanishi
1Departments of Ophthalmology
Matthew L. Batten
1Departments of Ophthalmology
David W. Piston
4Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232
Wolfgang Baehr
5Departments of Ophthalmology, Biology, and Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah Health Science Center, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Krzysztof Palczewski
1Departments of Ophthalmology
2Pharmacology,
3Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
Address correspondence to Krzysztof Palczewski, Dept. of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St., Box 356485, Seattle, WA 98195-6485. Tel.: (206) 543-9074. Fax: (206) 221-6784. email: [email protected]
The online version of this article includes supplemental material.
Abbreviations used in this paper: 3-D, three-dimensional; ADRP, adipose differentiation-related protein; CRALBP, cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein; LRAT, lecithin:retinol acyltransferase; REST, retinyl ester storage particle; ROS, rod outer segment; RPE, retinal pigment epithelium; RPE65, an RPE-specific 65-kD protein.
Received:
November 17 2003
Accepted:
December 29 2003
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
The Rockefeller University Press
2004
J Cell Biol (2004) 164 (3): 373–383.
Article history
Received:
November 17 2003
Accepted:
December 29 2003
Citation
Yoshikazu Imanishi, Matthew L. Batten, David W. Piston, Wolfgang Baehr, Krzysztof Palczewski; Noninvasive two-photon imaging reveals retinyl ester storage structures in the eye . J Cell Biol 2 February 2004; 164 (3): 373–383. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200311079
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