Tag Archives: Macaulie A. Casey

Optic Cup Morphogenesis Requires Neural Crest-Mediated Basement Membrane Assembly

We have a new manuscript out in Development, Optic cup morphogenesis requires neural crest-mediated basement membrane assembly.

Authors: Chase D. Bryan @CDBE30, Macaulie A. Casey, Rebecca L. Pfeiffer @BeccaPfeiffer19, Bryan W. Jones @BWJones, and Kristen M. Kwan @BlockInTheBack

This is a collaborative project out of the Kwan lab that we helped out with some of the ultrastructural work and analysis.

Abstract: Organogenesis requires precise interactions between a developing tissue and its environment. In vertebrates, the developing eye is surrounded by a complex extracellular matrix as well as multiple mesenchymal cell populations. Disruptions to either the matrix or periocular mesenchyme can cause defects in early eye development, yet in many cases, the underlying mechanism is unknown. Here, using multidimensional imaging and computational analyses in zebrafish, we establish that cell movements in the developing optic cup require neural crest. Ultrastructural analysis reveals that basement membrane formation around the developing eye is also dependent on neural crest, but only specifically around the retinal pigment epithelium. Neural crest cells produce the extracellular matrix protein nidogen: impairing nidogen function disrupts eye development, and strikingly, expression of nidogen in the absence of neural crest partially restores optic cup morphogenesis. These results demonstrate that eye formation is regulated in part by extrinsic control of extracellular matrix assembly.