Alternative Splicing Factor CELF4 is Implicated in Regulation of Ganglion Cell Differentiation During Murine Retinal Development

CELF4 is an RNA-binding protein believed to play a role as an alternative splicing factor that regulates the inclusion or exclusion of RNA into the mature messengerRNA. Mice deficient for this gene die postnally. Heterozygous CELF4 knockout mice have a complex seizure phenotype. Murine CELF4 expression is restricted to the central nervous system. Here we characterize its expression in murine retinal tissue and comment on the role it plays in mammalian retinal development. It has been discovered that mice deficient for this gene have developmental defects in the retina. An enlarged ganglion cell layer in CELF4 mutants is observed at P0. Immunostaining shows that cells in the ganglion cell layer of CELF4 mutants at P0 are not staining for mature ganglion cells. We posit that loss of CELF4 inhibits ganglion cell differentiation and maturation in the retina disturbing normal development of the eye.