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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Jul 22.
Published in final edited form as: Prog Retin Eye Res. 2021 Dec 29;89:101037. doi: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2021.101037

Figure 1. Lipid environment at the RPE/photoreceptor interface.

Figure 1.

The dynamic interplay between photoreceptors and the RPE enables the efficient and necessary recycling and biogenesis of lipid components. Transporters on the basal side of RPE cells bring in several lipid components from circulation while also allowing for cholesterol efflux. The RPE also accepts lipids from photoreceptors from shedding disk tips, which become phagolysosomes in the RPE. The RPE uses both sources of lipid precursors to produced vital components of photoreceptor membranes, which are then transported back to photoreceptors for their incorporation and support of phototransduction.