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MITF is essential for autophagy in the retinal pigment epithelium

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Editor's note
A key regulator of cellular recycling in the eye's light-sensing tissue has been identified, suggesting why some people lose vision with age—their retinal cells can't clear out metabolic junk. This mechanistically rigorous work in primary human cells and mice adds a missing link to the autophagy-degeneration story, moving from correlative to causal evidence. Retinal specialists and researchers studying macular degeneration should take particular note.

Source: europepmc · Garcia-Llorca A, Hermannsson K, Locri F, Andre H, Ogmundsdottir MH, Steingrimsson E, Eysteinsson T. · bioRxiv · 2026-05-25

URL: https://europepmc.org/article/PPR/PPR1238458

AI rationale (4/5, tier: preliminary): Directly studies autophagy flux (LC3B-II, p62, autolysosomes) in primary human RPE cells and mouse models; mechanistically rigorous but pre-publication stage.

The Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) plays a critical role in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) development and function. Dysfunctional autophagy and lysosomal degradation in the RPE have been implicated in age-related retinal degeneration, yet the contribution of MITF to these pathways remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that reduced Mitf expression impairs autophagy in mouse and human RPE cells. Primary RPE cells from Mitfmi-vga9/+ heterozygotes mice displayed altered autophagic flux characterized by accumulation of LC3B-II and p62, while MITF knockdown in human ARPE-19 cells promoted autophagosome accumulation. Ultrastructural analysis further revealed age-dependent accumulation of autolysosomes and lipofuscin-like granules in mutant RPE cells. In addition, expression of autophagy-related genes was altered in mutant RPE tissue, supporting disrupted lysosomal-autophagic homeostasis. Together, our findings identify MITF as an important regulator of autophagy in the RPE and suggest that impaired MITF-dependent homeostasis may contribute to retinal degeneration.

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Published 2026-05-28 · Last kit-update 2026-05-28