Int. J. Dev. Biol. 38: 1 - 12 (1994)

Vol 38, Issue 1

Involvement of non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases in expression of differentiated phenotype by cells of retinal origin

Published: 1 March 1994

A Moszczynska and M Opas

Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Abstract

Regulation of phenotypic expression in epithelia in general, and of two epithelia of the retina, the neural retina and retinal pigment epithelium in particular, is dependent on interactions with extracellular environment. Extracellular environment may comprise acellular substrata as well as other cells. Non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases are involved in transmembrane transmission of signals from extracellular milieu, via the cytoskeleton to the nucleus. We describe distribution of these kinases in cells of retinal origin and show that two of them, pp125FAK and pp60c-src redistribute intracellularly in a differentiation-dependent manner. Next we discuss roles that adhesion-related non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases might play in phenotypic expression by the retinal epithelia.