Conditional knockdown of DNA methyltransferase-1 (Dnmt1) reveals a key role of retinal pigment epithelium integrity in photoreceptor outer segment morphogenesis

To explore the epigenetic contribution to retinal development, we generated conditional knockout alleles of DNA methytransferase-1 (Dnmt1) mediated by Rx-Cre in mice. The results demonstrate a unique function of DNMT1-mediated DNA methylation in controlling RPE apicobasal polarity and neural retina differentiation. Retinal samples were harvested from both Dnmt1 mutant and wt animals at embryonic day 16.5 and postnatal days 0.5, 6.5, and 10.5 for microarray analysis. Each experiment was performed with biological quadruplicates. One microgram of total RNA was used for cDNA systhesis in target molecule production.