Retinoic acid delays transcription of human retinal pigment neuroepithelium marker genes in ARPE-19 cells

Abstract
The effect of retinoic acid on the differentiation of a human retinal pigment epithelium-derived cell line ARPE-19 was studied. Differentiation of ARPE-19 cells is delayed by retinoic acid. The minimum all-trans-retinoic acid concentration needed for delay of ARPE-19 differentiation is 1 μM. A delay of differentiation was also observed using 1 μM 9-cis or 13-cis-retinoic acid. Differentiation at the molecular level was studied by analyzing transcription of two RPE-marker genes, RPE65 and peropsin. In the presence of 1 μM retinoic acid the onset of transcription of both genes was delayed by 2–3 weeks. We conclude that alltrans-, 9-cis-, and 13-cis-retinoic acid delay differentiation of ARPE-19 cells into cells that phenotypically resemble cells from the human retinal pigment epithelium.