PMID: 3771144Nov 1, 1986Paper

Light-microscopical analysis of focal adhesions of retinal pigmented epithelial cells

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
M Opas, V I Kalnins

Abstract

Retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells from eyes of chick embryos form colonies in vitro in which cells at the periphery of the colony are unpigmented, undifferentiated, and well spread, while those in center of the colony are cuboidal, polygonal, and pigmented, and resemble RPE cells in vivo. The differentiated RPE cells in the center of the colony display predominantly cell-cell adhesiveness, and their microfilaments are organized in compact, circumferential rings. Undifferentiated RPE cells from the edge of the colony, in contrast, display predominantly cell-substratum adhesiveness and have numerous stress fibers spanning their cytoplasm. The well-spread RPE cells adhere to the substratum with focal contacts and unusually large focal adhesions. The focal adhesions which are typical of the spread chick RPE cells in vitro consist of several closely apposed focal contacts, arranged in a parallel fashion, which are often coalesced with each other along their sides. They occur at the termini of prominent microfilament bundles which contain F-actin and tropomyosin along their entire length. Myosin, which is also present in these bundles, however, is less abundant than actin and tropomyosin in the terminal, focal adhesion-associa...Continue Reading

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