On your marks... get bound... internalize!

Abstract

Photoreceptor shedding and its phagocytosis by the retinal pigment epithelium is a crucial process in the renewal of the light-sensitive photoreceptor outer segments (POS). This internalization process shares many components used by macrophages in apoptotic cell clearance, but is unique in that this process is rhythmic. This chapter discusses the molecular mechanisms known so far to be involved in the journey of the POS that follows three sequential steps: particle recognition, binding, and internalization. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.