Inactivity of human β,β-carotene-9′,10′-dioxygenase (BCO2) underlies retinal accumulation of the human macular carotenoid pigment

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 111; no. 28; pp. 10173 - 10178
• Main Authors: Li, Binxing, Vachali, Preejith P., Gorusupudi, Aruna, Shen, Zhengqing, Sharifzadeh, Hassan, Besch, Brian M., Nelson, Kelly, Horvath, Madeleine M., Frederick, Jeanne M., Baehr, Wolfgang, Bernstein, Paul S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 15.07.2014; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies; Biological Sciences; Carotenoids; Dioxygenases - genetics; Dioxygenases - metabolism; Enzymes; Escherichia coli; Eye Proteins - genetics; Eye Proteins - metabolism; Glutathione S-Transferase pi - genetics; Glutathione S-Transferase pi - metabolism; Humans; Lutein - genetics; Lutein - metabolism; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Primates; Protein isoforms; Retina; Retina - cytology; Retina - enzymology; Retinal pigments; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Species Specificity; Xanthophylls; Xanthophylls - genetics; Xanthophylls - metabolism; Zeaxanthins

The macula of the primate retina uniquely concentrates high amounts of the xanthophyll carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso -zeaxanthin, but the underlying biochemical mechanisms for this spatial- and species-specific localization have not been fully elucidated. For example, despite abundant ret...