Ferroxidases in RPE Iron Transport

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Iron is necessary in the retina for oxidative phosphorylation, membrane biogenesis and retinol isomerization, but can also produce oxidative stress if improperly regulated, leading to cell death. This can contribute to retinal disease as follows: 1) Iron toxicity causes rapid retinal degeneration following direct entry of iron into the eye carried by an intraocular foreign body. 2) Human AMD retinas have more iron than age-matched controls, suggesting that iron overload may play a role in AMD pathogenesis. 3) Inherited defects in the ferroxidase ceruloplasmin (Cp) result in retinal iron accumulation and early onset macular degeneration. 4) Mice with mutation in Cp and its homolog hephaestin (Heph) have an age-dependent retinal iron overload and degeneration with a number of features similar to AMD, including subretinal neovascularization. The latter two points indicate that Cp and Heph are important for retinal health. Evidence from other organs suggests that Cp or Heph can cooperate with the plasma membrane iron transporter ferroportin (Fpn) to export iron from cells. The goal of this proposal is to increase understanding of the roles of Cp, Heph and Fpn in retinal iron homeostasis and their regulation by the secreted hormone hepcidin (Hepc). Hepc is produced in the retina (as well as the liver) and triggers internalization and degradation of Fpn. Hepc may serve as a message from retinal cells sensing iron excess (such as photoreceptors) to degrade Fpn and limit iron transfer from RPE and Muller cells. Our existing Cp/Heph double mutant and Hepc-/- mice indicate that these three proteins are critical for retinal iron homeostasis and health, but provide little information about the specific functions of the proteins within the retina. Conditional mouse knockout technology (lox/cre) affords the opportunity to determine how these proteins function within specific retinal cell types and how intercellular iron transfer is executed and regulated. In Aim1, the photoreceptor-specific functions of Heph, a possible "iron release valve" to prevent PR iron overload will be investigated using a Heph conditional knockout on a Cp-/- background. In Aim 2, the iron transport function of Fpn will be investigated using RPE and photoreceptor-specific conditional knockout mice. In Aim 3, the retinal function of Hepc will be investigated in knockout and conditional knockout mice. These studies are important because: 1) They will provide new information about the cell-type specific functions of Heph, Fpn and Hepc and the routes of intercellular iron transfer that control retinal iron homeostasis. 2) The conditional knockout mice are likely to provide models for several features of AMD, including subretinal neovascularization while avoiding the lifespan-limiting brain iron overload in our existing Cp/Heph double mutant mice.