Expression of deubiquitinating enzyme genes in the developing mammal retina

PURPOSE: Genes involved in the development and differentiation of the mammalian retina are also associated with inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) and age-related macular degeneration. Transcriptional regulation of retinal cell differentiation has been addressed by genetic and transcriptomic studies. Much less is known about the posttranslational regulation of key regulatory proteins, although mutations in some genes involved in ubiquitination and proteostasis—E3 ligases and deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs)—cause IRDs. This study intends to provide new data on DUB gene expression during different developmental stages of mouse and human fetal retinas. METHODS: We performed a comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of all the annotated human and mouse DUBs (87) in the developing mouse retina at several embryonic and postnatal time points compared with the transcriptome of the fetal human retina. An integrated comparison of data from transcriptomics, reported chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) of CRX and NRL transcription factors, and the phenotypic retinal alterations in different animal models is presented. RESULTS: Several DUB genes are differentially expressed during the development of the mouse and human retinas in relation to proliferation or differentiation stages. Some DUB genes appear to be distinctly expressed during the differentiation stages of rod and cone photoreceptor cells, and their expression is altered in mouse knockout models of relevant photoreceptor transcription factors. We complemented this RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis with other reported expression and phenotypic data to underscore the involvement of DUBs in cell fate decision and photoreceptor differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: The present results highlight a short list of potential DUB candidates for retinal disorders, which require further study.