Reconstitution of the photoreceptor-pigment epithelium interface: L-glutamate stimulation of adhesive interactions and rod disc shedding after recombination of dissociated Xenopus laevis eyecups.

In order to investigate adhesive interactions between photoreceptor and pigment epithelial cells, we have mechanically separated neural retinas from Xenopus laevis eyecups and then recombined the tissues in vitro. When tissue pairs are incubated in a defined medium, cell-cell contact is achieved within 3 hr. However, the average proportion of reassembled eyecups in which photoreceptor outer segments interdigitate with epithelial microvilli is limited. Furthermore, rod disc shedding does not take place in these cultures, even following a dark to light transition. When recombined tissues are placed in medium supplemented with 12 mM L-glutamate, retinal reattachment is enhanced and there is a four-fold increase in epithelial phagosome content. The positive effect of excitatory amino acid exposure on shedding, however, is restricted to regions where visual and epithelial cells interdigitate. These results indicate that re-establishment of cell contact may be necessary for shedding of apical disc membranes prior to their engulfment by the epithelium. While reattachment is not affected by pre-incubation of separated tissues in normal medium, rod photoreceptors fail to undergo membrane turnover in response to L-glutamate if a delay of 1 hr or more is interposed between isolation of the retina and its recombination with the pigment epithelium. This is probably due to a decline in retinal function in culture, since a similar preincubation of the pigment epithelium prior to reassembly with a freshly isolated retina does not inhibit the shedding response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)