Immunocytochemical characterisation of proteins secreted by retinal pigment epithelium in retinas of normal and Royal College of Surgeons dystrophic rats

In a previous study, an antigen consisting of proteins secreted by retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells was injected into a sheep and the specificity of the resulting antiserum was shown by Western blotting and its effects on retinal development were determined in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, the distribution of these secreted proteins was determined by light microscopy immunocytochemistry in cultured neonatal rat RPE cells and retinas of normal and Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) dystrophic rats and cerebrum of normal adult rats. Immunolabelling for these RPE-secreted proteins was detected in cytoplasmic vesicles surrounding nuclei and within processes of cultured normal and transformed rat RPE. In retinas of late postnatal and adult rats, dense immunostaining was found in the cytoplasm of RPE cells and ganglion cell bodies. In addition to RPE and ganglion cells, scattered photoreceptors within the thin outer nuclear layer and small structures within the debris zone were also densely immunoreactive in retinas of 2-mo-old RCS dystrophic rats. The numbers of immunostained ganglion cells appeared to decrease in retinas of older RCS rats, although the immunoreactivity within the RPE appeared to increase in density. No other neuron within the retina, i.e. bipolar, amacrine or horizontal, was immunoreactive for RPE-secreted proteins. In the cerebral cortex of adult rats, immunoreactivity for RPE-secreted proteins was primarily detected within large perikarya of pyramidal neurons and smaller granule neurons. In conclusion, we report an immunocytochemical analysis of an antiserum raised against secreted proteins of rat RPE. This antiserum recognised proteins within secretory-like vesicles of cultured neonatal normal and transformed rat RPE and showed a specificity for RPE and ganglion cells :in normal rat retinas, that appeared to be developmentally regulated, and neuron perikarya in adult rat cerebrum.