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The role of transcription factors in mouse eye development
Sunny, Sweetu Susan ; Kozmik, Zbyněk (advisor) ; Pavlínková, Gabriela (referee) ; Fafílek, Bohumil (referee)
Vision is a complex process that begins with the transmission and refraction of light through a highly specialised transparent tissue called the cornea. The cornea acts as a protective barrier and contributes to the focusing power of the eye. The development of mammalian cornea is a multiphase process involving the formation of the corneal epithelium (CE), stroma and endothelium (CEn) during embryogenesis, followed by the postnatal stratification of epithelium and constant renewal of desquamated outermost cells. Paired box protein (Pax) 6 is an evolutionarily conserved transcription factor important for the proper development of the eye. To provide further insights into the role of Pax6 in corneal development, we took the advantage of Cre-loxP system for selectively inactivating Pax6 in two ocular domains, specifically, the postnatal CE and the ocular surface epithelium (OSE) (cornea, limbus, and conjunctiva). We generated a novel postnatal CE-specific Cre-expressing transgenic mouse line, Aldh3-Cre. Inactivation of Pax6 in the postnatal CE using Aldh3-Cre resulted in the abnormal thin cornea with defective cell-cell adhesion, thus providing direct evidence for the function of Pax6 in postnatal corneal development. Subsequently, the OSE-specific depletion of Pax6 using K14-Cre, resulted in the...
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