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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/1999//1533 $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 147, Number 7, , 1999 1533-1548

Original Article

Ezrin Promotes Morphogenesis of Apical Microvilli and Basal Infoldings in Retinal Pigment Epithelium



Vera Lúcia Bonilhaa, Silvia C. Finnemanna,b, and Enrique Rodriguez-Boulana,b

a Margaret M. Dyson Vision Research Institute, Department of Ophthalmology
b Department of Cell Biology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York 10021
Dyson Vision Inst., Dept. of Ophthalmology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021.(212) 746-8101(212) 746-2272

boulan{at}mail.med.cornell.edu

Ezrin, a member of the ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM) family, localizes to microvilli of epithelia in vivo, where it bridges actin filaments and plasma membrane proteins. Here, we demonstrate two specific morphogenetic roles of ezrin in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), i.e., the formation of very long apical microvilli and of elaborate basal infoldings typical of these cells, and characterize the role of ezrin in these processes using antisense and transfection approaches. In the adult rat RPE, only ezrin (no moesin or radixin) was detected at high levels by immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy at microvilli and basal infoldings. At the time when these morphological differentiations develop, in the first two weeks after birth, ezrin levels increased fourfold to adult levels. Addition of ezrin antisense oligonucleotides to primary cultures of rat RPE drastically decreased both apical microvilli and basal infoldings. Transfection of ezrin cDNA into the RPE-J cell line, which has only trace amounts of ezrin and moesin, sparse and stubby apical microvilli, and no basal infoldings, induced maturation of microvilli and the formation of basal infoldings without changing moesin expression levels. Taken together, the results indicate that ezrin is a major determinant in the maturation of surface differentiations of RPE independently of other ERM family members.

Key Words: antisense • retinal development • cortical cytoskeleton • epithelia • ezrin radixin moesin proteins

© 1999 The Rockefeller University Press

Abbreviations used in this paper: ERM, ezrin/radixin/moesin family; HGF, hepatocyte growth factor; P, postnatal day; PR, photoreceptor; pAb, polyclonal antibody; RPE, retinal pigment epithelium; VSVG, vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein G.


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