scholarly journals Characterization of a novel large-field cone bipolar cell type in the primate retina: Evidence for selective cone connections

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
HANNAH R. JOO ◽  
BETH B. PETERSON ◽  
TONI J. HAUN ◽  
DENNIS M. DACEY
Keyword(s):  
Giant Cell ◽  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Dendritic Tree ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Giant Cells ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Large Field ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Dendritic Field

AbstractParallel processing of visual information begins at the first synapse in the retina between the photoreceptors and bipolar cells. Ten bipolar cell types have been previously described in the primate retina: one rod and nine cone bipolar types. In this paper, we describe an 11th type of bipolar cell identified in Golgi-stained macaque retinal whole mount and vertical section. Axonal stratification depth, in addition to dendritic and axonal morphology, distinguished the “giant” cell from all previously well-recognized bipolar cell types. The giant bipolar cell had a very large and sparsely branched dendritic tree and a relatively large axonal arbor that costratified with the DB4 bipolar cell near the center of the inner plexiform layer. The sparseness of the giant bipolar’s dendritic arbor indicates that, like the blue cone bipolar, it does not contact all the cones in its dendritic field. Giant cells contacting the same cones as midget bipolar cells, which are known to contact single long-wavelength (L) or medium-wavelength (M) cones, demonstrate that the giant cell does not exclusively contact short-wavelength (S) cones and, therefore, is not a variant of the previously described blue cone bipolar. This conclusion is further supported by measurement of the cone contact spacing for the giant bipolar. The giant cell contacts an average of about half the cones in its dendritic field (mean ± s.d. = 52 ± 17.6%; n = 6), with a range of 27–82%. The dendrites from single or neighboring giant cells that converge onto the same cones suggest that the giant cell may selectively target a subset of cones with a highly variable local density, such as the L or M cones.

scholarly journals Ultrastructural Circuitry in Retinal Cell Transplants to Rat Retina

1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles L. Zucker ◽  
Berndt Ehinger ◽  
Magdalene Seiler ◽  
Robert B. Aramant ◽  
Alan R. Adolph
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Pigment Epithelium ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Photoreceptor Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Retinal Cell ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Cell Transplants ◽  
Normal Differentiation

The development of five transplants of fetal retinal tissue to adult rat eyes was examined with the electron microscope. The transplants were of 9 to 10 weeks total age after conception in four cases and 20 weeks in one case. They were at stage E15 when transplanted. Transplants developed in both the epiretinal and subretinal spaces.The transplants were heterogeneously developed with some parts showing almost normal differentiation and others little. Subretinal transplants examined in this study were more developed than epiretinal grafts. Photoreceptor cells developed both inner and outer segments. Their synaptic terminals possessed output ribbon synapses with postsynaptic processes similar to those seen in normal retinas. In regions corresponding to the inner plexiform layer, the adult complement of synapses was seen, including advanced features such as serial synapses as well as reciprocal synapses at bipolar cell dyads. Incompletely differentiated synapses of both the amacrine and bipolar cell types were often observed, especially in the rat epiretinal transplants. Ganglion cell processes could not be identified with certainty.Although transplant cells were adjacent to host photoreceptor cells and pigment epithelium, obvious specializations or interactions were not observed. The experiments suggest that embryonic rat retinal cell transplants develop most or perhaps all of the structural components and neuronal circuitry necessary to transduce light and process some visual information.

scholarly journals Pharmacology of the skate electroretinogram indicates independent ON and OFF bipolar cell pathways.

1996 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
R L Chappell ◽  
F J Rosenstein
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Critical Feature ◽  
Single Class ◽  
Afferent Pathways ◽  
Afferent Information ◽  
On And Off Pathways

Organization of afferent information into parallel ON and OFF pathways is a critical feature of the vertebrate visual system. All afferent visual information in the vertebrate retina reaches the inner plexiform layer (IPL) via bipolar cells. It is at the bipolar cell level that separation of ON and OFF information first appears for afferent information from cones. This may also hold true for the rod pathway of cold-blooded vertebrates, but not for mammals. The all-rod retina of the skate presents an opportunity to examine such pathways in a retina having but a single class of photoreceptor. Immunocytochemical evidence suggests that both ON and OFF bipolar cells are present in the skate retina. We examined the pharmacology of the skate electroretinogram (ERG) to test the hypothesis that independent ON and OFF bipolar cell pathways are functional as rod afferent pathways from outer to inner plexiform layer in the skate. 100 microM 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (APB) reversibly blocked the skate ERG b-wave. A small d-wave-like OFF component of the ERG revealed by DC recording of response to a prolonged (10 s) flash of light was reduced or blocked by 5 mM kynurenic acid (KYN). We found that addition of 200 microM picrotoxin to the Ringer's solution revealed prominent ON and OFF components of the skate ERG while reducing the c-wave. These ON and OFF components were reversibly blocked by 100 microM APB and 5 mM KYN, respectively. Reversible block of the OFF component by KYN was also accomplished in the presence of 500 microM N-methyl-DL-aspartate. From these findings, we conclude that ON and OFF bipolar cells are likely to be functional as parallel afferent interplexiform pathways in the all-rod retina of the skate.

scholarly journals Differential expression of PKCα and -β in the zebrafish retina

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion F. Haug ◽  
Manuela Berger ◽  
Matthias Gesemann ◽  
Stephan C. F. Neuhauss
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Immunohistochemical Analysis ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Retinal Tissue ◽  
Kinase C

AbstractThe retina is a complex neural circuit in which visual information is transmitted and processed from light perceiving photoreceptors to projecting retinal ganglion cells. Much of the computational power of the retina rests on signal integrating interneurons, such as bipolar cells in the outer retina. While mammals possess about 10 different bipolar cell types, zebrafish (Danio rerio) has at least six ON-type, seven OFF-type, and four mixed-input bipolar cells. Commercially available antibodies against bovine and human conventional protein kinase C (PKC) α and -β are frequently used as markers for retinal ON-bipolar cells in different species, despite the fact that it is not known which bipolar cell subtype(s) they actually label.Moreover, the expression pattern of the five prkc genes (coding for PKC proteins) has not been systematically determined. While prkcg is not expressed in retinal tissue, the other four prkc (prkcaa, prkcab, prkcba, prkcbb) transcripts were found in different parts of the inner nuclear layer and some as well in the retinal ganglion cell layer.Immunohistochemical analysis in adult zebrafish retina using PKCα and PKCβ antibodies showed an overlapping immunolabeling of ON-bipolar cells that are most likely of the BON s6L or RRod type and of the BON s6 type. However, comparison of transcript expression with immunolabling, implies that these antibodies are not specific for one single zebrafish conventional PKC, but rather detect a combination of PKC -α and -β variants.

Recoverin immunoreactivity in mammalian cone bipolar cells

1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann H. Milam ◽  
Dennis M. Dacey ◽  
Alexander M. Dizhoor
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Binding ◽  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Dendritic Morphology ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Antibody Preparation ◽  
Axonal Arbors ◽  
Cone Bipolar Cells

AbstractHuman, macaque monkey, and rat retinas were immunostained with a polyclonal antibody preparation against purified recoverin, a 23-kD calcium-binding protein isolated from bovine retina that localizes to rods and cones (Dizhoor et al., 1991). In addition to immunoreactive photoreceptors, we have identified subpopulations of recoverin-positive bipolar cells in all three species. Results from immunostaining with progressive dilutions of anti-recoverin and preadsorption of the antibody with a dilution series of purified recoverin showed that photoreceptors and bipolar cells had similar affinities for the antibody and suggested that the molecule recognized by the antibody in both cell types is recoverin. Immunoreactivity for recoverin and protein kinase C, a selective marker for all rod bipolar cells, was found in separate bipolar cell populations. Recoverin immunoreactivity is therefore a characteristic of certain cone bipolar cell types.In rat retina, anti-recoverin labeled two morphologically distinct subpopulations of cone bipolar cells whose axonal arbors stratified at different depths in the inner plexiform layer (IPL). The bipolar cells labeled with anti-recoverin did not correspond to those that were reactive for calbindin, another cone bipolar cell marker.Human and monkey retinas also had two populations of cone bipolar cells that were recoverin-positive. One population showed a distinct pattern of narrow bistratification at the outer border of the IPL and a regular mosaic arrangement of its axonal arbors, suggesting that the entire population of a single cone bipolar type was labeled. Cell density, dendritic morphology, and axonal-field size and stratification indicate that anti-recoverin selectively stains the flat midget (presumed OFF-center) cone bipolar cell type observed previously in Golgi preparations. By contrast the second bipolar cell population had axonal stratification in the inner half of the IPL and showed an unusual but consistent morphology and spatial distribution. Individual cells were intensely stained but were present at an extremely low density (~2−5 cells/mm2). These cells had multibranched dendritic trees characteristic of the diffuse bipolar cell class, but very small axonal fields in the size range of the midget bipolar class. Neither of the two recoverin-positive bipolar cell types in monkey was labeled with anti-calbindin or anti-cholecystokinin. An antibody preparation against bovine pineal hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT) labeled photoreceptors and bipolar cells that closely resembled the recoverin-positive bipolar cells in human and rat retinas. Preadsorption of this antibody preparation with purified recoverin abolished immunostaining of the bipolar cells, suggesting that the anti-HIOMT preparation contains antibodies against recoverin, which is known to be present in the bovine pineal gland.

A comparison of immunocytochemical markers to identify bipolar cell types in human and monkey retina

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 589-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
SILKE HAVERKAMP ◽  
FRANCOISE HAESELEER ◽  
ANITA HENDRICKSON
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Horizontal Cell ◽  
Outer Part ◽  
Amacrine Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Macaque Monkey ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Double Labeling ◽  
Wide Range

As more human retinas affected with genetic or immune-based diseases become available for morphological analysis, it is important to identify immunocytochemical markers for specific subtypes of retinal neurons. In this study, we have focused on bipolar cell markers in central retina. We have done single and double labeling using several antisera previously utilized in macaque monkey or human retinal studies and two new antisera (1) to correlate combinations of antisera labeling with morphological types of bipolar cells in human retina, and (2) to compare human labeling patterns with those in monkey retina. Human bipolar cells showed a wide range of labeling patterns with at least ten different bipolar cell types identified from their anatomy and marker content. Many bipolar cell bodies in the outer part of the inner nuclear layer contained combinations of protein kinase C alpha (PKCα), Islet-1, glycine, and Goα. Bipolar cells labeled with these markers had axons terminating in the inner half of the inner plexiform layer (IPL), consistent with ON bipolar cells. Bipolar cell bodies adjacent to the amacrine cells and with axons in the outer half of the IPL contained combinations of recoverin, glutamate transporter-1, and PKCβ, or CD15 and calbindin. Bipolar cells labeled with these markers were presumed OFF bipolar cells. Calcium-binding protein 5 (CaB5) labeled both putative ON and OFF bipolar cells. Using this cell labeling as a criteria, most cell bodies close to the horizontal cells were ON bipolar cells and almost all bipolar cells adjacent to the amacrine cells were OFF with a band in the middle 2–3 cell bodies thick containing intermixed ON and OFF bipolar cells. Differences were found between human and monkey bipolar cell types labeled by calbindin, CaB5, and CD15. Two new types were identified. One was morphologically similar to the DB3, but labeled for CD15 and CaB5. The other had a calbindin-labeled cell body adjacent to the horizontal cell bodies, but did not contain any accepted ON markers. These results support the use of macaque monkey retina as a model for human, but caution against the assumption that all labeling patterns are identical in the two primates.

Unusual coupling patterns of a cone bipolar cell in the rabbit retina

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1029-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEPHEN L. MILLS
Keyword(s):  
Gap Junctions ◽  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Rabbit Retina ◽  
Retinal Bipolar Cells ◽  
Different Cell Types ◽  
Cone Bipolar Cells

In mammals, gap junctions between retinal bipolar cells are generally small and tracer coupling has not been previously demonstrated. In this study, Neurobiotin was injected into the Ba3-type cone bipolar cell, a medium-field cone bipolar cell that ramifies in sublamina a of the rabbit retina. Tracer spread to many other Ba3 bipolar cells, presumably through gap junctions. It also spread to a smaller field bipolar cell called the Ba1 that ramifies at the same depth of the inner plexiform layer. Injection of Neurobiotin into Ba1 bipolar cells did not produce staining beyond the injected cell. Tracer coupling from the Ba3 was therefore both heterologous, in that different cell types were stained, and asymmetric. The unusual properties of this bipolar cell suggest that its function may differ from that of most cone bipolar cells, which are narrow-field, do not overlap, and are poorly coupled to one another.

A coupled network for parasol but not midget ganglion cells in the primate retina

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 279-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis M. Dacey ◽  
Sarah Brace
Keyword(s):  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Amacrine Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Distinct Pattern ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Dendritic Field

AbstractIntracellular injections of Neurobiotin were used to determine whether the major ganglion cell classes of the macaque monkey retina, the magnocellular-projecting parasol, and the parvocellular-projecting midget cells showed evidence of cellular coupling similar to that recently described for cat retinal ganglion cells. Ganglion cells were labeled with the fluorescent dye acridine orange in an in vitro, isolated retina preparation and were selectively targeted for intracellular injection under direct microscopic control. The macaque midget cells, like the beta cells of the cat's retina, showed no evidence of tracer coupling when injected with Neurobiotin. By contrast, Neurobiotin-filled parasol cells, like cat alpha cells, showed a distinct pattern of tracer coupling to each other (homotypic coupling) and to amacrine cells (heterotypic coupling).In instances of homotypic coupling, the injected parasol cell was surrounded by a regular array of 3–6 neighboring parasol cells. The somata and proximal dendrites of these tracer-coupled cells were lightly labeled and appeared to costratify with the injected cell. Analysis of the nearest-neighbor distances for the parasol cell clusters showed that dendritic-field overlap remained constant as dendritic-field size increased from 100–400 μm in diameter.At least two amacrine cell types showed tracer coupling to parasol cells. One amacrine type had a small soma and thin, sparsely branching dendrites that extended for 1–2 mm in the inner plexiform layer. A second amacrine type had a relatively large soma, thick main dendrites, and distinct, axon-like processes that extended for at least 2–3 mm in the inner plexiform layer. The main dendrites of the large amacrine cells were closely apposed to the dendrites of parasol cells and may be the site of Neurobiotin transfer between the two cell types. We suggest that the tracer coupling between neighboring parasol cells takes place indirectly via the dendrites of the large amacrine cells and provides a mechanism, absent in midget cells, for increasing parasol cell receptive-field size and luminance contrast sensitivity.

scholarly journals Synaptic vesicle dynamics in mouse rod bipolar cells

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
QUN-FANG WAN ◽  
ALEJANDRO VILA ◽  
ZHEN-YU ZHOU ◽  
RUTH HEIDELBERGER
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Vesicle ◽  
Time Constant ◽  
Active Zone ◽  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Membrane Surface ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Calcium Dependent ◽  
Vesicle Dynamics ◽  
Rod Bipolar Cells

AbstractTo better understand synaptic signaling at the mammalian rod bipolar cell terminal and pave the way for applying genetic approaches to the study of visual information processing in the mammalian retina, synaptic vesicle dynamics and intraterminal calcium were monitored in terminals of acutely isolated mouse rod bipolar cells and the number of ribbon-style active zones quantified. We identified a releasable pool, corresponding to a maximum of ≈35 vesicles/ribbon-style active zone. Following depletion, this pool was refilled with a time constant of ≈7 s. The presence of a smaller, rapidly releasing pool and a small, fast component of refilling was also suggested. Following calcium channel closure, membrane surface area was restored to baseline with a time constant that ranged from 2 to 21 s depending on the magnitude of the preceding Ca2+ transient. In addition, a brief, calcium-dependent delay often preceded the start of onset of membrane recovery. Thus, several aspects of synaptic vesicle dynamics appear to be conserved between rod-dominant bipolar cells of fish and mammalian rod bipolar cells. A major difference is that the number of vesicles available for release is significantly smaller in the mouse rod bipolar cell, both as a function of the total number per neuron and on a per active zone basis.

In vivo development of retinal ON-bipolar cell axonal terminals visualized in nyx::MYFP transgenic zebrafish

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 833-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIC H. SCHROETER ◽  
RACHEL O.L. WONG ◽  
RONALD G. GREGG
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Transgenic Fish ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Regulatory Sequences ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Fixed Tissue ◽  
Different Ages ◽  
Retinal Bipolar Cells

Axonal differentiation of retinal bipolar cells has largely been studied by comparing the morphology of these interneurons in fixed tissue at different ages. To better understand how bipolar axonal terminals develop in vivo, we imaged fluorescently labeled cells in the zebrafish retina using time-lapse confocal and two photon microscopy. Using the upstream regulatory sequences from the nyx gene that encodes nyctalopin, we constructed a transgenic fish in which a subset of retinal bipolar cells express membrane targeted yellow fluorescent protein (MYFP). Axonal terminals of these YFP-labeled bipolar cells laminated primarily in the inner half of the inner plexiform layer, suggesting that they are likely to be ON-bipolar cells. Transient expression of MYFP in isolated bipolar cells indicates that two or more subsets of bipolar cells, with one or two terminal boutons, are labeled. Live imaging of YFP-expressing bipolar cells in the nyx::MYFP transgenic fish at different ages showed that initially, filopodial-like structures extend and retract from their primary axonal process throughout the inner plexiform layer (IPL). Over time, filopodial exploration becomes concentrated at discrete foci prior to the establishment of large terminal boutons, characteristic of the mature form. This sequence of axonal differentiation suggests that synaptic targeting by bipolar cell axons may involve an early process of trial and error, rather than a process of directed outgrowth and contact. Our observations represent the first in vivo visualization of axonal development of bipolar cells in a vertebrate retina.

scholarly journals Heterocellular coupling between amacrine cell and ganglion cells

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Marc ◽  
Crystal Sigulinsky ◽  
Rebecca L. Pfeiffer ◽  
Daniel Emrich ◽  
James R. Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gap Junctions ◽  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Amacrine Cell ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Amacrine Cells ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Tem Analysis

AbstractAll superclasses of retinal neurons display some form of electrical coupling including the key neurons of the inner plexiform layer: bipolar cells (BCs), amacrine or axonal cells (ACs) and ganglion cells (GCs). However, coupling varies extensively by class. For example, mammalian rod bipolar cells form no gap junctions at all, while all cone bipolar cells form class-specific coupling arrays, many of them homocellular in-superclass arrays. Ganglion cells are unique in that classes with coupling predominantly form heterocellular cross-class arrays of ganglion cell::amacrine cell (GC::AC) coupling in the mammalian retina. Ganglion cells are the least frequent superclass in the inner plexiform layer and GC::AC gap junctions are sparsely arrayed amidst massive cohorts of AC::AC, bipolar cell BC::BC, and AC::BC gap junctions. Many of these gap junctions and most ganglion cell gap junctions are suboptical, complicating analysis of specific ganglion cells. High resolution 2 nm TEM analysis of rabbit retinal connectome RC1 allows quantitative GC::AC coupling maps of identified ganglion cells. Ganglion cells classes apparently avoid direct cross-class homocellular coupling altogether even though they have opportunities via direct membrane touches, while transient OFF alpha ganglion cells and transient ON directionally selective (DS) ganglion cells are strongly coupled to distinct amacrine / axonal cell cohorts.A key feature of coupled ganglion cells is intercellular metabolite flux. Most GC::AC coupling involves GABAergic cells (γ+ amacrine cells), which results in significant GABA flux into ganglion cells. Surveying GABA coupling signatures in the ganglion cell layer across species suggests that the majority of vertebrate retinas engage in GC::AC coupling.Multi-hop synaptic queries of the entire RC1 connectome clearly profiles the coupled amacrine and axonal cells. Photic drive polarities and source bipolar cell class selec-tivities are tightly matched across coupled cells. OFF alpha ganglion cells are coupled to OFF γ+ amacrine cells and transient ON DS ganglion cells are coupled to ON γ+ amacrine cells including a large interstitial axonal cell (IAC). Synaptic tabulations show close matches between the classes of bipolar cells sampled by the coupled amacrine and ganglion cells. Further, both ON and OFF coupling ganglion networks show a common theme: synaptic asymmetry whereby the coupled γ+ neurons are also presynaptic to ganglion cell dendrites from different classes of ganglion cells outside the coupled set. In effect, these heterocellular coupling patterns enable an excited ganglion cell to directly inhibit nearby ganglion cells of different classes. Similarly, coupled γ+ amacrine cells engaged in feedback networks can leverage the additional gain of bipolar cell synapses in shaping the signaling of a spectrum of downstream targets based on their own selective coupling with ganglion cells.

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