The first step toward light perception is 11-cis to all-trans photoisomerization of the retinaldehyde chromophore in a rod or cone opsin-pigment molecule. Light sensitivity of the opsin pigment is restored through a multistep pathway called the visual cycle, which effects all-trans to 11-cis re-isomerization of the retinoid chromophore. The maximum throughput of the known visual cycle, however, is too slow to explain sustained photosensitivity in bright light. Here, we demonstrate three novel enzymatic activities in cone-dominant ground-squirrel and chicken retinas: an all-trans-retinol isomerase, an 11-cis-retinyl-ester synthase, and an 11-cis-retinol dehydrogenase. Together these activities comprise a novel pathway that regenerates opsin photopigments at a rate 20-fold faster than the known visual cycle. We suggest that this pathway is responsible for sustained daylight vision in vertebrates.

These findings demonstrate the vitamin A-dependent nature of A2E biosynthesis and validate a novel therapeutic approach with potential to halt the accumulation of lipofuscin fluorophores in the eye.

Accumulation of vitamin A-derived lipofuscin fluorophores in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a patho

No abstract

SignificanceRecessive Stargardt macular degeneration (STGD1) and a subset of cone–rod dystrophies are caused by mutations in the Abca4 gene. The ABCA4 protein is a flippase in photoreceptor cells that helps eliminate retinaldehyde, a toxic photoproduct of vision. Here we found that ABCA4 is additionally present in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of mice at approximately 1% of its abundance in the neural retina. Genetically modified mice that express ABCA4 in RPE but not in photoreceptor cells showed partial rescue of both the lipofuscin accumulation and photoreceptor degeneration observed in Abca4−/− mice and in STGD1 patients. These observations suggest that ABCA4 in the RPE prevents photoreceptor degeneration in Abca4−/− mice and possibly in STGD1 patients.

Vitamin A supplementation should be avoided in patients with ABCA4 mutations or other retinal or macular dystrophies associated with lipofuscin accumulation in the retinal pigment epithelium.

Photon capture by a rhodopsin pigment molecule induces 11-cis to all-trans isomerization of its retinaldehyde chromophore. To restore light sensitivity, the alltrans-retinaldehyde must be chemically re-isomerized by an enzyme pathway called the visual cycle. Rpe65, an abundant protein in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and a homolog of ␤-carotene dioxygenase, appears to play a role in this pathway. Rpe65 ؊/؊ knockout mice massively accumulate all-trans-retinyl esters but lack 11-cis-retinoids and rhodopsin visual pigment in their retinas. Mutations in the human RPE65 gene cause a severe recessive blinding disease called Leber's congenital amaurosis. The function of Rpe65, however, is unknown. Here we show that Rpe65 specifically binds alltrans-retinyl palmitate but not 11-cis-retinyl palmitate by a spectral-shift assay, by co-elution during gel filtration, and by co-immunoprecipitation. Using a novel fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) binding assay in liposomes, we demonstrate that Rpe65 extracts all-trans-retinyl esters from phospholipid membranes. Assays of isomerase activity reveal that Rpe65 strongly stimulates the enzymatic conversion of all-trans-retinyl palmitate to 11-cis-retinol in microsomes from bovine RPE cells. Moreover, we show that addition of Rpe65 to membranes from rpe65 ؊/؊ mice, which possess no detectable isomerase activity, restores isomerase activity to wild-type levels. Rpe65 by itself, however, has no intrinsic isomerase activity. These observations suggest that Rpe65 presents retinyl esters as substrate to the isomerase for synthesis of visual chromophore. This proposed function explains the phenotype in mice and humans lacking Rpe65.Light perception in vertebrates is mediated by a group of G protein-coupled receptors called the opsins. Most opsin pigments contain 11-cis-retinaldehyde (11cRAL) 1 as the light-absorbing chromophore. Absorption of a photon induces 11-cis to all-trans isomerization of the chromophore, resulting in the activated species, metarhodopsin II. After a brief period, metarhodopsin II decays to yield apo-rhodopsin and free alltrans-retinaldehyde (atRAL). Before light sensitivity of the pigment can be restored, the atRAL must be chemically re-isomerized to 11cRAL by a metabolic pathway called the visual cycle. Most steps in this pathway take place within cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) adjacent to the photoreceptors. The key step in this pathway is all-trans to 11-cis re-isomerization of the retinoid, which is catalyzed by an enzyme activity called isomerohydrolase (IMH). IMH has been shown to use fatty acyl esters of retinol as a substrate (1, 2), harnessing the energy of ester hydrolysis [⌬G ϭ Ϫ5 kcal/mol (3)] for the endothermic conversion of all-trans-retinol (atROL) to 11-cis-retinol (11cROL) (ϩ4.1 kcal/mol, Ref. 4). IMH has never been purified or cloned. Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a severe and relatively common autosomal recessive disease that results in blindness at birth. LCA is frequently caused by mutations in the RP...

Recessive Stargardt's macular degeneration is a blinding disease of children caused by mutations in the ABCA4 (ABCR) gene. Mice with a knockout mutation in abcr accumulate toxic lipofuscin pigments in ocular tissues, similar to affected humans. The major fluorophore of lipofuscin is the bis-retinoid, N-retinylidene-N-retinylethanolamine (A2E). In the current study, we sought to define the effect of increasing light on A2E accumulation. We crossed the abcr Ϫ/Ϫ mutation onto an albino background. The retinoid profiles in albino mice indicated higher retinal illuminance than in pigmented mice exposed to similar ambient light. Unexpectedly, A2E levels were not higher in the albino mice. Also, A2E levels in abcr Ϫ/Ϫ mice reared under cyclic light at 30, 120, or 1,700 lux were similar. Thus, increased retinal illuminance was not correlated with higher A2E. A2E has been shown to undergo light-dependent oxidation to yield a series of A2E epoxides or oxiranes. These oxiranes react with DNA in vitro, suggesting a potential mechanism for A2E cytotoxicity. We analyzed ocular tissues from abcr Ϫ/Ϫ mice for A2E oxiranes by mass spectrometry. Unlike A2E, the oxiranes were more abundant in albino vs. pigmented abcr Ϫ/Ϫ mice, and in abcr Ϫ/Ϫ mice exposed to increasing ambient light. These observations suggest that both the biosynthesis of A2E and its conversion to oxiranes are accelerated by light. Finally, we showed that the formation of A2E oxiranes is strongly suppressed by treating the abcr Ϫ/Ϫ mice with Accutane (isotretinoin), an inhibitor of rhodopsin regeneration.