ArticleNature metabolism2023
Phagocytosis in the retina promotes local insulin production in the eye.
Article in Nature metabolism, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Retinal Pigment Epithelium Phagocytosis and Retinal Degenerative Diseases.Aging and disease · 2025Pooled it
- Orchestrating glucose metabolism: PFKFB2 as a signal-integrating conductor in homeostasis and disease.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2026Review
- The role of lactate in retinal health and disease: mechanisms and potential therapeutic strategies. A narrative review.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2026Review
- Photoreceptor Vulnerability to Ferroptosis: Membrane Phospholipid Peroxidation, Mitochondrial Homeostasis, and RPE-Photoreceptor Coupling.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Mesenchymal-derived neural progenitors underlie localbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Insulin production in the retina drives autocrine signalling and metabolism reprogramming of the ARPE-19, a retinal pigment epithelium cellular model.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2026Article
- Bon appétit, your phagocyte.Cell death discovery · 2026Review
- Nutrition, Cell Signalling, Mitochondrial Function, and Chronic Non-Communicable Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Ampk alpha2 T172 activation dictates exercise performance and energy transduction in skeletal muscle.Science advances · 2026Article
- Local Insulin for Local Needs? Insights into Retinal Insulin Signaling and RPE Metabolism.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- RPGRORF15 Mutations Disrupt Lysosomal Lipid Metabolism in Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells and Cause Retinitis Pigmentosa.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
- Lactate and lactylation in cancer.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Review
- Discovery of Glucose Metabolism-Associated Genes in Neuropathic Pain: Insights from Bioinformatics.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- CYLD Maintains Retinal Homeostasis by Deubiquitinating ENKD1 and Promoting the Phagocytosis of Photoreceptor Outer Segments.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- From Insight to Eyesight: Unveiling the Secrets of the Insulin-Like Growth Factor Axis in Retinal Health.Aging and disease · 2024Review
- Crinophagic granules in pancreatic β cells contribute to mouse autoimmune diabetes by diversifying pathogenic epitope repertoire.Nature communications · 2024Article
- The mouse retinal pigment epithelium mounts an innate immune defense response following retinal detachment.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2024Article
- Retinal atrophy, inflammation, phagocytic and metabolic disruptions develop in the MerTK-cleavage-resistant mouse model.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Article
- Metabolism: How removal of damaged cells impacts energy availability in the retina.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
- Transcriptomic Changes Predict Metabolic Alterations in LC3 Associated Phagocytosis in Aged Mice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
22 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The retina is highly metabolically active, relying on glucose uptake and aerobic glycolysis. Situated in close contact to photoreceptors, a key function of cells in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is phagocytosis of damaged photoreceptor outer segments (POS). Here we identify RPE as a local source of insulin in the eye that is stimulated by POS phagocytosis. We show that Ins2 messenger RNA and insulin protein are produced by RPE cells and that this production correlates with RPE phagocytosis of POS. Genetic deletion of phagocytic receptors ('loss of function') reduces Ins2, whereas increasing the levels of the phagocytic receptor MerTK ('gain of function') increases Ins2 production in male mice. Contrary to pancreas-derived systemic insulin, RPE-derived local insulin is stimulated during starvation, which also increases RPE phagocytosis. Global or RPE-specific Ins2 gene deletion decreases retinal glucose uptake in starved male mice, dysregulates retinal physiology, causes defects in phototransduction and exacerbates photoreceptor loss in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa. Collectively, these data identify RPE cells as a phagocytosis-induced local source of insulin in the retina, with the potential to influence retinal physiology and disease.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.