The RNA-binding protein Musashi-1 is produced in the developing and adult mouse eye

Musashi-1 (Msi1) is an RNA-binding protein produced in various types of stem cells including neural stem/progenitor cells and astroglial progenitor cells in the vertebrate central nervous system. Other RNA-binding proteins such as Pumilio-1, Pumilio-2, Staufen-1, and Staufen-2 have been characterized as potential markers of several types of stem or progenitor cells. We investigated the involvement of Msi1 in mouse eye development and adult mouse eye functions by analyzing the profile of Msi1 production in all ocular structures during development and adulthood.

We studied Msi1 production by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry of ocular tissue sections and by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and western blot analysis from the embryonic stage of 12.5 days post coitum (E12.5 dpc) when the first retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) begin to appear to the adult stage when all retinal cell types are present.

Msi1 mRNA was present at all studied stages of eye development. Msi1 protein was detected in the primitive neuroblastic layer (NbL), the ganglion cell layer (GCL), and in all major differentiated neurons of postnatal developing and adult retinae. During postnatal developing stages, faint diffuse Msi1 protein staining is converted to a more specific distribution once mouse retina is fully differentiated. The most striking result of our study concerns the large amounts of Msi1 protein and mRNA in several unexpected sites of adult mouse eyes including the corneal epithelium and endothelium, stromal keratocytes, progenitor cells of the limbus, equatorial lens stem cells, differentiated lens epithelial cells, and differentiating lens fibers. Msi1 was also found in the pigmented and nonpigmented cells of the ciliary processes, the melanocytes of the ciliary body, the retinal pigment epithelium, differentiated retinal neurons, and most probably in the retinal glial cells such as Müller glial cells, astrocytes, and the oligodendocytes surrounding the axons of the optic nerve. Msi1 expression was detected in the outer plexiform layer, the inner plexiform layer, and the nerve fiber layer of fully differentiated adult retina.

We provide here the first demonstration that the RNA-binding protein, Msi1, is produced in mouse eyes from embryonic stages until adulthood. The relationship between the presence of Msi1 in developing ocular compartments and the possible stem/progenitor cell characteristics of these compartments remains unclear. Finally, the expression of Msi1 in several different cell types in the adult eye is extremely intriguing and should lead to further attempts to unravel the role of Msi1 in cellular and subcellular RNA metabolism and in the control of translational processes in adult eye cells particularly in adult neuronal dendrites, axons, and synapses.