The retinal pigment epithelial cells modulate phagolysosome activation in macrophages through neuropeptides, a-MSH and NPY

Objective: The main function of the human eye is to detect light, motion, and color from our surroundings. This information is then processed and translated in the brain as vision. However, what is less known about the eye is its ability to regulate immune function. It is this ocular immune privilege that maintains the eye’s ability collect visual information. The degeneration of immune privilege causes inflammation, which can cause damage to the eye, an increased susceptibility of eye disorders such as autoimmune uveitis (inflammation of the uvea), and may lead to vision impairment. Research in ocular immune privilege can open up potential clinical applications for maladies such as uveitis, septic shock, hypersensitivity, multiple sclerosis and allograft survival. Previous research has shown the importance of the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells for maintenance of ocular immune privilege, and has identified the use of neuropeptides to suppress inflammatory responses in macrophages. This project aims to study the role and mechanism of the RPE cells in phagolysosome activation in macrophages that mediate inflammation. Methods: Posterior eyecups were prepared from eyes of healthy, EAU immunized, or post-EAU mice. Eyecups, which consisted of the sclera, choroid, and a single layer of RPE, were cultured in serum-free media (SFM). During a 24-hour incubation period,