Figure 7. Overexpression of dnMITF leads to downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Human retinal pigment epithelium (ARPE-19) cells were transfected with a dominant negative against the MITF-Tfe transcription factor family (dnMITF) or an empty vector control (pBS). RNA was isolated 48 h post-transfection and analyzed with qRT–PCR. A 50% reduction in VEGF mRNA was observed in samples overexpressing the dnMITF; there was an 80% decrease in the expression of known targets for the MITF-Tfe family, tyrosinase (TYR), and tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1). The experiment was performed in triplicate. A representative experiment is shown with data expressed as the mean±standard deviation. *: p<0.05; ***: p<0.001.