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Updated: Oct 14, 2025
Direct-Coupled Electroretinogram DC-ERG for Recording the Light-Evoked Electrical Responses of the Mouse Retinal Pigment Epithelium
Published on: July 14, 2020
MicroRNA regulation of critical retinal pigment epithelial functions
Samuel W Du1, Krzysztof Palczewski2
1Center for Translational Vision Research, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, CA, USA; Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, CA, USA; Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, CA, USA.
Abstract:
MicroRNAs are short, evolutionarily conserved noncoding RNAs that are critical for the control of normal cellular physiology. In the retina, photoreceptors are highly specialized neurons that transduce light into electrical signals. Photoreceptors, however, are unable to process visual stimuli without the support of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The RPE performs numerous functions to aid the retina, including the generation of visual chromophore and metabolic support. Recent work has underscored how microRNAs enable vision through their contributions to RPE functions. This review focuses on the biogenesis and control of microRNAs in rodents and humans, the roles microRNAs play in RPE function and degeneration, and how microRNAs could serve as potential therapeutics and biomarkers for visual diseases.
