High resolution imaging and interpretation of three-dimensional RPE sheet structure.

ABSTRACT: The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a monolayer of pigmented cells, is critical for visual function through its interaction with the neural retina. In healthy eyes, RPE cells exhibit a uniform hexagonal arrangement, but under stress or disease, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), dysmorphic traits like cell enlargement and apparent multinucleation emerge. Multinucleation has been hypothesized to result from cellular fusion, a compensatory mechanism to maintain cell to cell contact, barrier function, and conserve resources in unhealthy tissue. However, traditional two-dimensional (2D) imaging using apical border markers alone may misrepresent multinucleation due to the lack of lateral markers. We present high-resolution confocal images enabling three-dimensional (3D) visualiza

SUBMITTER: Donaldson KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11643093 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature