Shanzhen Peng, Jing Jing Li, Wanying Song, Ye Li, Lei Zeng, Qiaoxing Liang, Xiaofeng Wen, Haitao Shang, Keli Liu, Peiyao Peng, Wei Xue, Bin Zou, Liu Yang, Juanran Liang, Zhihui Zhang, Shixin Guo, Tingting Chen, Wenxuan Li, Ming Jin, Xiang-Bin Xing, Pengxia Wan, Chunqiao Liu, Haotian Lin, Hong Wei, Richard W J Lee, Feng Zhang, Lai Wei
The Crumbs homolog 1 (CRB1) gene is associated with retinal degeneration, most commonly Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Here, we demonstrate that murine retinas bearing the Rd8 mutation of Crb1 are characterized by the presence of intralesional bacteria. While normal CRB1 expression was enriched in the apical junctional complexes of retinal pigment epithelium and colonic enterocytes, Crb1 mutations dampened its expression at both sites. Consequent impairment of the outer blood retinal barrier and colonic intestinal epithelial barrier in Rd8 mice led to the translocation of intestinal bacteria from the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract to the retina, resulting in secondary retinal degeneration...
February 16, 2024: Cell