ArticleMolecular biology of the cell2004
The role of Rab27a in the regulation of melanosome distribution within retinal pigment epithelial cells.
Article in Molecular biology of the cell, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 109 citations in OpenAlex.
- The roles of cytoplasmic dynein complex in various ocular disorders.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Review
- Acid sphingomyelinase inhibition restores RPE homeostasis and photoreceptor function in preclinical Stargardt macular degeneration models.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Subretinal aspects of the optoretinographic response.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Activated mTOR Signaling in the RPE Drives EMT, Autophagy, and Metabolic Disruption, Resulting in AMD-Like Pathology in Mice.Aging cell · 2025Article
- The Allosteric Inhibitor Pentachloropseudilin Inhibits Myosin 1C ATPase Activity and Recapitulates Retinitis Pigmentosa Phenotypes in Mice.ACS omega · 2025Article
- Specialised features of melanosomes in health and disease in the retinal pigment epithelium.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Altered Glucose Metabolism Contribute to the Retinal Phenotype in the Choroideremia Zebrafish.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Optical coherence tomography biomarkers in MYO7A-inherited retinal dystrophy: longitudinal study in pediatric patients.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2024Article
- The Impact of Photopigment Bleaching on the Human Rod Photoreceptor Subretinal Space Measured Via Optical Coherence Tomography.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2024Article
- Loss of REP1 impacts choroidal melanogenesis and vasculogenesis in choroideremia.Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease · 2024Article
- Expression of two major isoforms of MYO7A in the retina: Considerations for gene therapy of Usher syndrome type 1B.Vision research · 2023Article
- Transglutaminase Type 2-MITF axis regulates phenotype switching in skin cutaneous melanoma.Cell death & disease · 2023Article
- Choroideremia: The Endpoint Endgame.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Oxidative and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Represent Novel Therapeutic Targets for Choroideremia.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Melanophages give rise to hyperreflective foci in AMD, a disease-progression marker.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2023Article
- Choroideremia Carriers: Dark-Adapted Perimetry and Retinal Structures.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2022Article
- The role of motor proteins in photoreceptor protein transport and visual function.Ophthalmic genetics · 2022Article
- Microtubule Motor Transport of Organelles in a Specialized Epithelium: The RPE.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Review
- Expression of Rab Prenylation Pathway Genes and Relation to Disease Progression in Choroideremia.Translational vision science & technology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Melanosomes within the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of mammals have long been thought to exhibit no movement in response to light, unlike fish and amphibian RPE. Here we show that the distribution of melanosomes within the mouse RPE undergoes modest but significant changes with the light cycle. Two hours after light onset, there is a threefold increase in the number of melanosomes in the apical processes that surround adjacent photoreceptors. In skin melanocytes, melanosomes are motile and evenly distributed throughout the cell periphery. This distribution is due to the interaction with the cortical actin cytoskeleton mediated by a tripartite complex of Rab27a, melanophilin, and myosin Va. In ashen (Rab27a null) mice RPE, melanosomes are unable to move beyond the adherens junction axis and do not enter apical processes, suggesting that Rab27a regulates melanosome distribution in the RPE. Unlike skin melanocytes, the effects of Rab27a are mediated through myosin VIIa in the RPE, as evidenced by the similar melanosome distribution phenotype observed in shaker-1 mice, defective in myosin VIIa. Rab27a and myosin VIIa are likely to be required for association with and movement through the apical actin cytoskeleton, which is a prerequisite for entry into the apical processes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.