scholarly journals Retinal Ganglion Cells—Diversity of Cell Types and Clinical Relevance

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ungsoo Samuel Kim ◽  
Omar A. Mahroo ◽  
John D. Mollon ◽  
Patrick Yu-Wai-Man
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Selective Vulnerability ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Chronological Sequence ◽  
The Central Nervous System

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the bridging neurons that connect the retinal input to the visual processing centres within the central nervous system. There is a remarkable diversity of RGCs and the various subtypes have unique morphological features, distinct functions, and characteristic pathways linking the inner retina to the relevant brain areas. A number of psychophysical and electrophysiological tests have been refined to investigate this large and varied population of RGCs. Technological advances, such as high-resolution optical coherence tomography imaging, have provided additional tools to define the pattern of RGC involvement and the chronological sequence of events in both inherited and acquired optic neuropathies. The mechanistic insights gained from these studies, in particular the selective vulnerability and relative resilience of particular RGC subtypes, are of fundamental importance as they are directly relevant to the development of targeted therapies for these invariably progressive blinding diseases. This review provides a comprehensive description of the various types of RGCs, the developments in proposed methods of classification, and the current gaps in our knowledge of how these RGCs are differentially affected depending on the underlying aetiology. The synthesis of the current body of knowledge on the diversity of RGCs and the pathways that are potentially amenable to therapeutic modulation will hopefully lead to much needed effective treatments for patients with optic neuropathies.

scholarly journals Spatial receptive field properties of rat retinal ganglion cells

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 403-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
WALTER F. HEINE ◽  
CHRISTOPHER L. PASSAGLIA
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
X And Y Cells ◽  
Y Cells

AbstractThe rat is a popular animal model for vision research, yet there is little quantitative information about the physiological properties of the cells that provide its brain with visual input, the retinal ganglion cells. It is not clear whether rats even possess the full complement of ganglion cell types found in other mammals. Since such information is important for evaluating rodent models of visual disease and elucidating the function of homologous and heterologous cells in different animals, we recorded from rat ganglion cells in vivo and systematically measured their spatial receptive field (RF) properties using spot, annulus, and grating patterns. Most of the recorded cells bore likeness to cat X and Y cells, exhibiting brisk responses, center-surround RFs, and linear or nonlinear spatial summation. The others resembled various types of mammalian W cell, including local-edge-detector cells, suppressed-by-contrast cells, and an unusual type with an ON–OFF surround. They generally exhibited sluggish responses, larger RFs, and lower responsiveness. The peak responsivity of brisk-nonlinear (Y-type) cells was around twice that of brisk-linear (X-type) cells and several fold that of sluggish cells. The RF size of brisk-linear and brisk-nonlinear cells was indistinguishable, with average center and surround diameters of 5.6 ± 1.3 and 26.4 ± 11.3 deg, respectively. In contrast, the center diameter of recorded sluggish cells averaged 12.8 ± 7.9 deg. The homogeneous RF size of rat brisk cells is unlike that of cat X and Y cells, and its implication regarding the putative roles of these two ganglion cell types in visual signaling is discussed.

scholarly journals Mouse dLGN receives input from a diverse population of retinal ganglion cells with limited convergence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslav Román Rosón ◽  
Yannik Bauer ◽  
Philipp Berens ◽  
Thomas Euler ◽  
Laura Busse
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Diverse Population ◽  
Relay Station ◽  
Functional Convergence ◽  
High Degree

SUMMARYIn the mouse, the parallel output of more than 30 functional types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) serves as the basis for all further visual processing. Little is known about how the representation of visual information changes between the retina and the dorsolateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of the thalamus, the main relay station between the retina and cortex. Here, we functionally characterized responses of retrogradely labeled dLGN-projecting RGCs and dLGN neurons to the same set of visual stimuli. We found that many of the previously identified functional RGC types innervate the dLGN, which maintained a high degree of functional diversity. Using a linear model to assess functional connectivity between RGC types and dLGN neurons, we found that the responses of dLGN neurons could be predicted as a linear combination of inputs from on average five RGC types, but only two of those had the strongest functional impact. Thus, mouse dLGN receives input from a diverse population of RGCs with limited functional convergence.

scholarly journals Effects of Adult Müller Cells and Their Conditioned Media on the Survival of Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Ganglion Cells

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1759
Author(s):  
Xandra Pereiro ◽  
Adam M. Miltner ◽  
Anna La Torre ◽  
Elena Vecino
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Cell Survival ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Müller Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Conditioned Media ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Muller Cells ◽  
Müller Glia

Retinal neurons, particularly retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), are susceptible to the degenerative damage caused by different inherited conditions and environmental insults, leading to irreversible vision loss and, ultimately, blindness. Numerous strategies are being tested in different models of degeneration to restore vision and, in recent years, stem cell technologies have offered novel avenues to obtain donor cells for replacement therapies. To date, stem cell–based transplantation in the retina has been attempted as treatment for photoreceptor degeneration, but the same tools could potentially be applied to other retinal cell types, including RGCs. However, RGC-like cells are not an abundant cell type in stem cell–derived cultures and, often, these cells degenerate over time in vitro. To overcome this limitation, we have taken advantage of the neuroprotective properties of Müller glia (one of the main glial cell types in the retina) and we have examined whether Müller glia and the factors they secrete could promote RGC-like cell survival in organoid cultures. Accordingly, stem cell-derived RGC-like cells were co-cultured with adult Müller cells or Müller cell-conditioned media was added to the cultures. Remarkably, RGC-like cell survival was substantially enhanced in both culture conditions, and we also observed a significant increase in their neurite length. Interestingly, Atoh7, a transcription factor required for RGC development, was up-regulated in stem cell-derived organoids exposed to conditioned media, suggesting that Müller cells may also enhance the survival of retinal progenitors and/or postmitotic precursor cells. In conclusion, Müller cells and the factors they release promote organoid-derived RGC-like cell survival, neuritogenesis, and possibly neuronal maturation.

scholarly journals Axonal Sodium-Channel Bands Shape the Response to Electric Stimulation in Retinal Ganglion Cells

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 1972-1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley I. Fried ◽  
Aaron C. W. Lasker ◽  
Neal J. Desai ◽  
Donald K. Eddington ◽  
Joseph F. Rizzo
Keyword(s):  
Sodium Channel ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Electric Stimulation ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Threshold Region ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Neural Prosthetic ◽  
Voltage Gated Sodium Channels

Electric stimulation of the retina reliably elicits light percepts in patients blinded by outer retinal diseases. However, individual percepts are highly variable and do not readily assemble into more complex visual images. As a result, the quality of visual information conveyed to patients has been quite limited. To develop more effective stimulation methods that will lead to improved psychophysical outcomes, we are studying how retinal neurons respond to electric stimulation. The situation in the retina is analogous to other neural prosthetic applications in which a better understanding of the underlying neural response may lead to improved clinical outcomes. Here, we determined which element in retinal ganglion cells has the lowest threshold for initiating action potentials. Previous studies suggest multiple possibilities, although all were within the soma/proximal axon region. To determine the actual site, we measured thresholds in a dense two-dimensional grid around the soma/proximal axon region of rabbit ganglion cells in the flat mount preparation. In directionally selective (DS) ganglion cells, the lowest thresholds were found along a small section of the axon, about 40 μm from the soma. Immunochemical staining revealed a dense band of voltage-gated sodium channels centered at the same location, suggesting that thresholds are lowest when the stimulating electrode is closest to the sodium-channel band. The size and location of the low-threshold region was consistent within DS cells, but varied for other ganglion cell types. Analogously, the length and location of sodium channel bands also varied by cell type. Consistent with the differences in band properties, we found that the absolute (lowest) thresholds were also different for different cell types. Taken together, our results suggest that the sodium-channel band is the site that is most responsive to electric stimulation and that differences in the bands underlie the threshold differences we observed.

Retinal ganglion cells projecting to the optic tectum and visual thalamus of lizards

2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 575-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALINO MARTINEZ-MARCOS ◽  
ENRIQUE LANUZA ◽  
FERNANDO MARTINEZ-GARCIA
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Optic Tectum ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Visual Thalamus ◽  
Podarcis Hispanica

Retinal ganglion cells projecting to the optic tectum and visual thalamus have been investigated in the lizard, Podarcis hispanica. Injections of biotinylated dextran-amine in the optic tectum reveal seven morphological cell varieties including one displaced ganglion cell type. Injections in the visual thalamus yield similar ganglion cell classes plus four giant ganglion cells, including two displaced ganglion cell types. The present study constitutes the first comparison of tectal versus thalamic ganglion cell types in reptiles. The situation found in lizards is similar to that reported in mammals and birds where some cell types projecting to the thalamus are larger than those projecting to the mesencephalic roof. The presence of giant retino-thalamic ganglion cells with specific dendritic arborizations in sublaminae A and B of the inner plexiform layer suggests that parts of the visual thalamus of lizards could be implicated in movement detection, a role that might be played by the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus, which is involved in our tracer injections.

Categorization of Physiologically and Morphologically Characterized non-α/non-β Cat Retinal Ganglion Cells Using Fractal Geometry

Fractals ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 05 (04) ◽  
pp. 673-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. F. Jelinek ◽  
I. Spence
Keyword(s):  
Fractal Dimension ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Cell Type ◽  
Box Counting ◽  
Standard Values ◽  
Box Counting Method ◽  
Delta Cells

Non-α/non-β cat retinal ganglion cell images were obtained from the published literature, and a homogeneous group of cells was chosen as a standard for each currently accepted cell type (γ, δ and ε). The NIH box-counting method was chosen to determine the fractal dimension (Df) of all cells. The 'standard' values allowed comparisons with other morphologically and physiologically non-α/non-β classified cell types in the literature. We suggest, based on fractal analysis of the dendritic trees, that the morphologically defined γ, δ, and ε cells are distinct types. The W-tonic and W-phasic cell types were further divided into 2 subcategories (W-tonic1, W-tonic2, W-phasic1, W-phasic2). The fractal dimension, of the ε cells being equivalent to the W-tonic1 group and γ cell type equivalent to the W-phasic1 group. Delta cells may be equivalent to either the W-tonic2 or the W-phasic2 group. We discuss the value of the fractal dimension as an added morphological parameter for future morphophysiological classification schemes of vertebrate retinal ganglion cells.

scholarly journals Near complete loss of retinal ganglion cells in the math5/brn3b double knockout elicits severe reductions of other cell types during retinal development

2008 ◽  
Vol 316 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ala Moshiri ◽  
Ernesto Gonzalez ◽  
Kunifumi Tagawa ◽  
Hidetaka Maeda ◽  
Minhua Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Retinal Development ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Complete Loss ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Double Knockout

scholarly journals Diversity in spatial scope of contrast adaptation among mouse retinal ganglion cells

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (6) ◽  
pp. 3024-3043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hossein Khani ◽  
Tim Gollisch
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Contrast Level ◽  
Contrast Adaptation ◽  
Average Contrast

Retinal ganglion cells adapt to changes in visual contrast by adjusting their response kinetics and sensitivity. While much work has focused on the time scales of these adaptation processes, less is known about the spatial scale of contrast adaptation. For example, do small, localized contrast changes affect a cell’s signal processing across its entire receptive field? Previous investigations have provided conflicting evidence, suggesting that contrast adaptation occurs either locally within subregions of a ganglion cell’s receptive field or globally over the receptive field in its entirety. Here, we investigated the spatial extent of contrast adaptation in ganglion cells of the isolated mouse retina through multielectrode-array recordings. We applied visual stimuli so that ganglion cell receptive fields contained regions where the average contrast level changed periodically as well as regions with constant average contrast level. This allowed us to analyze temporal stimulus integration and sensitivity separately for stimulus regions with and without contrast changes. We found that the spatial scope of contrast adaptation depends strongly on cell identity, with some ganglion cells displaying clear local adaptation, whereas others, in particular large transient ganglion cells, adapted globally to contrast changes. Thus, the spatial scope of contrast adaptation in mouse retinal ganglion cells appears to be cell-type specific. This could reflect differences in mechanisms of contrast adaptation and may contribute to the functional diversity of different ganglion cell types. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Understanding whether adaptation of a neuron in a sensory system can occur locally inside the receptive field or whether it always globally affects the entire receptive field is important for understanding how the neuron processes complex sensory stimuli. For mouse retinal ganglion cells, we here show that both local and global contrast adaptation exist and that this diversity in spatial scope can contribute to the functional diversity of retinal ganglion cell types.

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