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Cell biology

A new view of photoreceptors

Nature volume 416, pages 139–140 (2002)Cite this article

The light-gathering structures in our eyes are specialized membranes found on cells known as photoreceptors. Two studies show that a protein called Crumbs is crucial for the development of these membranes.

The striking conservation of gene function from fruitflies to humans is under the spotlight again. On pages 143 and 178 of this issue, Pellikka and colleagues1 and Izaddoost and co-workers2 describe the role of the Crumbs protein in controlling the development of photoreceptors — the light-detecting cells in the eye — in fruitflies. The story is fascinating in itself, but also has implications for our understanding of the forms of two inherited human eye disorders, retinitis pigmentosa and Leber congenital amaurosis3,4, in which CRB1, the human counterpart of Crumbs, is mutated. Indeed, much of what is already known about the CRB1 protein is based on its physical and functional similarity to the fruitfly Crumbs.

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Figure 1: Determinants of cellular polarity.
Figure 2: How the unusual architecture of the photoreceptor apical membrane might develop (based on refs 1, 2).

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  1. Department of Biology, New York University, 1009 Main Building, 100 Washington Square East, New York, 10003-6688, New York, USA

    Franck Pichaud & Claude Desplan

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  1. Franck Pichaud
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  2. Claude Desplan
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Correspondence to Claude Desplan.

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Pichaud, F., Desplan, C. A new view of photoreceptors. Nature 416, 139–140 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/416139a

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