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Implantation and Evaluation of Melanoma in the Murine Choroid via Optical Coherence Tomography
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Melanoblasts Populate the Mouse Choroid Earlier in Development Than Previously Described
Paul G McMenamin1, Graham T Shields2, Yashar Seyed-Razavi1
1Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
|August 16, 2020
Summary
Early in mouse eye development, choroidal melanoblasts (MB) and myeloid cells appear by embryonic day 15.5. While initially unlinked to vasculature, MB later associate closely with developing blood vessels.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Developmental Biology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Human choroidal melanocytes are crucial for eye health but poorly understood.
- Investigating their precursors, melanoblasts (MB), offers insight into normal and diseased choroidal biology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the developmental relationship between mouse choroidal melanoblasts (MB), vasculature, and immune cells.
- To understand the early presence and distribution of MB in the developing mouse eye.
Main Methods:
- Utilized naive B6(Cg)-Tyrc-2J/J albino mice from embryonic day 15.5 to postnatal day 8.
- Employed confocal microscopy with antibodies for melanocyte and myeloid cell markers, alongside vascular staining.
- Quantified cell densities using Imaris and analyzed statistical significance with ANOVA.
Main Results:
- Melanoblasts (MB) were present by E15.5 and significantly increased in density by P0.
- MB density increased and formed multiple layers beneath the choriocapillaris in postnatal eyes.
- Myeloid cells were abundant from E15.5, reaching adult densities by P8.
Conclusions:
- Choroidal MB and myeloid cells are present very early in mouse eye development (E15.5).
- MB and vascularization show early dissociation but later close association.
- MB migration into the choroid is not in waves and lacks a consistent relationship with nerves.
