{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T10:39:23Z","timestamp":1785839963906,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,10]],"date-time":"2025-05-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746835200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Eye Institute","award":["EY020551"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EY020551"]}]},{"name":"National Eye Institute","award":["EY028121"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EY028121"]}]},{"name":"National Eye Institute","award":["EY011373"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EY011373"]}]},{"name":"P30 Visual Science Core Grant","award":["EY020551"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EY020551"]}]},{"name":"P30 Visual Science Core Grant","award":["EY028121"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EY028121"]}]},{"name":"P30 Visual Science Core Grant","award":["EY011373"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EY011373"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antioxidants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Lipid metabolism and oxidative stress are major contributors to ocular diseases, including drusen formation and photoreceptor damage. Aster-B, encoded by GRAMD1B, mediates the non-vesicular transport of cholesterol and carotenoids and is highly expressed in the human eye, though its specific ocular functions remain unknown. We investigated Aster-B\u2019s role in ARPE-19 cells, a model of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), using CRISPR\/dCas9 to generate an Aster-B-expressing cell line. Aster-B expression significantly improved cell survival under oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and was associated with the activation of the p53 and TGF\u03b2 signaling pathways, indicating a role in modulating stress responses. To confirm its lipid transport activity, we treated cholesterol-depleted cells with carotenoids and tracked their localization. In Aster-B-expressing cells, carotenoids accumulated in mitochondria, while in control cells, they remained in other cellular compartments. Under oxidative stress, mitochondrial carotenoid levels declined in Aster-B-expressing cells but not in control cells. Interestingly, carotenoids enhanced survival in control cells exposed to H2O2 but had a detrimental effect in Aster-B-expressing cells, suggesting that carotenoid function is context and location dependent. These findings highlight Aster-B\u2019s role in coordinating lipid transport and stress responses in the RPE, with implications for oxidative stress-related eye diseases.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antiox14050575","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,12]],"date-time":"2025-05-12T12:18:06Z","timestamp":1747052286000},"page":"575","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Aster-B Modulates Oxidative Stress Responses and Carotenoid Distribution in ARPE-19 Cells"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-4079-0152","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vidya","family":"Gopakumar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2079-2143","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Johannes","family":"von Lintig","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100803","DOI":"10.1016\/j.preteyeres.2019.100803","article-title":"Interactions of the choroid, Bruch\u2019s membrane, retinal pigment epithelium, and neurosensory retina collaborate to form the outer blood-retinal-barrier","volume":"76","author":"Fields","year":"2020","journal-title":"Prog. 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