The Trim family of genes and the retina: Expression and functional characterization

PLoS One. 2018 Sep 12;13(9):e0202867. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202867. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

To better understand the mechanisms that govern the development of retinal neurons, it is critical to gain additional insight into the specific intrinsic factors that control cell fate decisions and neuronal maturation. In the developing mouse retina, Atoh7, a highly conserved transcription factor, is essential for retinal ganglion cell development. Moreover, Atoh7 expression in the developing retina occurs during a critical time period when progenitor cells are in the process of making cell fate decisions. We performed transcriptome profiling of Atoh7+ individual cells isolated from mouse retina. One of the genes that we found significantly correlated with Atoh7 in our transcriptomic data was the E3 ubiquitin ligase, Trim9. The correlation between Trim9 and Atoh7 coupled with the expression of Trim9 in the early mouse retina led us to hypothesize that this gene may play a role in the process of cell fate determination. To address the role of Trim9 in retinal development, we performed a functional analysis of Trim9 in the mouse and did not detect any morphological changes in the retina in the absence of Trim9. Thus, Trim9 alone does not appear to be involved in cell fate determination or early ganglion cell development in the mouse retina. We further hypothesize that the reason for this lack of phenotype may be compensation by one of the many additional TRIM family members we find expressed in the developing retina.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Carrier Proteins / genetics
  • Carrier Proteins / metabolism
  • Embryo, Mammalian / metabolism
  • Female
  • Genotype
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / deficiency
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / metabolism
  • Pregnancy
  • Retina / metabolism*
  • Retina / pathology
  • Retinal Neurons / metabolism
  • Retinal Neurons / pathology
  • Transcriptome
  • Tripartite Motif Proteins / genetics
  • Tripartite Motif Proteins / metabolism*
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases

Substances

  • Atoh7 protein, mouse
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors
  • Carrier Proteins
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Tripartite Motif Proteins
  • Trim9 protein, mouse
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the GDCB department at Iowa State University. The authors received no specific funding for this work.