Localization of retina cognin in embryonic neural retina tissue by immuno-scanning electron microscopy

The retina cognin (a retina-specific cell-surface glycosylated protein that mediates self-recognition and morphogenetic contact associations of embryonic retina cells) was visualized by immunolabeling and scanning electron microscopy on the surface of cells within retina tissue of 9- and 16-day chick embryos. The photoreceptor processes which are free of contact with cells in the neural retina, were found to be devoid of surface cognin from early on in their development. These results extend previous studies on cognin localization and regeneration on separated retina cells in vitro and conclusively correlate its presence and surface topology with its postulated role.