Regulatory role of RNA-binding proteins in eye and lens development, Shaili Patel

Early eye development involves regulatory interactions between the optic vesicle and the overlying surface ectoderm that are necessary for formation of the lens and the correct placement of the retina. While signaling and transcriptional regulation in early eye development is well characterized, the significance of RBPs and post-transcriptional gene expression control, is less clear. Germline deletion of the RNA-binding protein (RBP) gene, Rbm24, in mice (Rbm24-/-) perturbs these regulatory events, resulting in severe early eye defects such as microphthalmia (small eye) and anophthalmia (absence of eye). Rbm24 is expressed in both the optic vesicle and the presumptive lens ectoderm and how its activities in these tissues impacts eye development. Therefore, as a first step toward dissecting the tissue-specific role of Rbm24, Rbm24 compound conditional knockout mice were generated and characterized.