Medical Cell Biology Commons^™

Peroxisomal Multifunctional Protein 2 Deficiency Perturbs Lipid Homeostasis In The Retina And Causes Visual Dysfunction In Mice, Yannick Das, Daniëlle Swinkels, Sai Kocherlakota, Stefan Vinckier, Frédéric M. Vaz, Eric Wever, Antoine H.C. Van Kampen, Bokkyoo Jun, Khanh V. Do, Lieve Moons, Nicolas G. Bazan, Paul P. Van Veldhoven, Myriam Baes

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Patients lacking multifunctional protein 2 (MFP2), the central enzyme of the peroxisomal β-oxidation pathway, develop retinopathy. This pathway is involved in the metabolism of very long chain (VLCFAs) and polyunsaturated (PUFAs) fatty acids, which are enriched in the photoreceptor outer segments (POS). The molecular mechanisms underlying the retinopathy remain, however, elusive. Here, we report that mice with MFP2 inactivation display decreased retinal function already at the age of 3 weeks, which is accompanied by a profound shortening of the photoreceptor outer and inner segments, but with preserved photoreceptor ultrastructure. Furthermore, MFP2 deficient retinas exhibit severe changes in gene expression with …