Retinoic acid delays transcription of human retinal pigment neuroepithelium marker genes in ARPE-19 cells

TLDR

The study examined how retinoic acid affects differentiation of the ARPE‑19 retinal pigment epithelium cell line. The authors assessed differentiation by measuring transcription of the RPE marker genes RPE65 and peropsin. Retinoic acid at 1 µM (and 9‑cis or 13‑cis forms) delays ARPE‑19 differentiation, postponing RPE65 and peropsin transcription by 2–3 weeks and preventing phenotypic maturation into retinal pigment epithelium‑like cells.

Abstract

The effect of retinoic acid on the differentiation of a human retinal pigment epithelium-derived cell line ARPE-19 was studied. Differentiation of ARPE-19 cells is delayed by retinoic acid. The minimum all-trans-retinoic acid concentration needed for delay of ARPE-19 differentiation is 1 μM. A delay of differentiation was also observed using 1 μM 9-cis or 13-cis-retinoic acid. Differentiation at the molecular level was studied by analyzing transcription of two RPE-marker genes, RPE65 and peropsin. In the presence of 1 μM retinoic acid the onset of transcription of both genes was delayed by 2–3 weeks. We conclude that alltrans-, 9-cis-, and 13-cis-retinoic acid delay differentiation of ARPE-19 cells into cells that phenotypically resemble cells from the human retinal pigment epithelium.