scholarly journals Neurogenesis and Specification of Retinal Ganglion Cells

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Tuyen Nguyen-Ba-Charvet ◽  
Alexandra Rebsam
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Retinal Cell ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Intrinsic Factors ◽  
Visual Deficits ◽  
Retinal Neurogenesis ◽  
Cell Niche

Across all species, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the first retinal neurons generated during development, followed by the other retinal cell types. How are retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) able to produce these cell types in a specific and timely order? Here, we will review the different models of retinal neurogenesis proposed over the last decades as well as the extrinsic and intrinsic factors controlling it. We will then focus on the molecular mechanisms, especially the cascade of transcription factors that regulate, more specifically, RGC fate. We will also comment on the recent discovery that the ciliary marginal zone is a new stem cell niche in mice contributing to retinal neurogenesis, especially to the generation of ipsilateral RGCs. Furthermore, RGCs are composed of many different subtypes that are anatomically, physiologically, functionally, and molecularly defined. We will summarize the different classifications of RGC subtypes and will recapitulate the specification of some of them and describe how a genetic disease such as albinism affects neurogenesis, resulting in profound visual deficits.

scholarly journals Molecular studies into cell biological role of Copine-4 in Retinal Ganglion Cells

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0255860
Author(s):  
Manvi Goel ◽  
Angel M. Aponte ◽  
Graeme Wistow ◽  
Tudor C. Badea
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Mass Spectrometry Analysis ◽  
Hek293 Cells ◽  
Retinal Cell ◽  
Interacting Proteins ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Over Expression

The molecular mechanisms underlying morphological diversity in retinal cell types are poorly understood. We have previously reported that several members of the Copine family of Ca-dependent membrane adaptors are expressed in Retinal Ganglion Cells and transcriptionally regulated by Brn3 transcription factors. Several Copines are enriched in the retina and their over-expression leads to morphological changes -formation of elongated processes-, reminiscent of neurites, in HEK293 cells. However, the role of Copines in the retina is largely unknown. We now investigate Cpne4, a Copine whose expression is restricted to Retinal Ganglion Cells. Over-expression of Cpne4 in RGCs in vivo led to formation of large varicosities on the dendrites but did not otherwise visibly affect dendrite or axon formation. Protein interactions studies using yeast two hybrid analysis from whole retina cDNA revealed two Cpne4 interacting proteins–Host Cell Factor 1 and Morn2. Mass Spectrometry analysis of retina lysate pulled down using Cpne4 or its vonWillebrand A domain showed 207 interacting proteins. A Gene Ontology analysis of the discovered proteins suggests that Cpne4 is involved in several metabolic and signaling pathways in the retina.

scholarly journals Molecular studies into Copine-4 function in Retinal Ganglion Cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manvi Goel ◽  
Angel M Aponte ◽  
Graeme Wistow ◽  
Tudor C Badea
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Mass Spectrometry Analysis ◽  
Hek293 Cells ◽  
Retinal Cell ◽  
Interacting Proteins ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Over Expression

The molecular mechanisms underlying morphological diversity in retinal cell types are poorly understood. We have previously reported that several members of the Copine family of Ca-dependent membrane adaptors are expressed in Retinal Ganglion Cells (RGCs) and transcriptionally regulated by Brn3 transcription factors. Several Copines are enriched in the retina and their over-expression leads to morphological changes reminiscent of neurite formation in HEK293 cells. However, the role of Copines in the retina is largely unknown. Here we focus on Cpne4, a Copine whose expression is restricted to RGCs. Over-expression of Cpne4 in RGCs in vivo led to formation of large varicosities on the dendrites but did not otherwise visibly affect dendrite or axon formation. Protein interactions studies using yeast two hybrid analysis from whole retina cDNA revealed two Cpne4 interacting proteins - HCFC1 and Morn2. Mass Spectrometry analysis of retina lysate pulled down using Cpne4 or its vonWillebrand A (vWA) domain identified a further 207 interacting proteins. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis of Cpne4 interactors suggests its involvement in several metabolic and signaling pathways, including processes related to vesicle trafficking, intracellular membrane bound organelles, and plasma membrane associated structures, including neurites. We conclude that, consistent with its domain structure, Cpne4 may be involved in assembly and trafficking of several membrane associated cell compartments.

Melatonin As a Modulator of Degenerative and Regenerative Signaling Pathways in Injured Retinal Ganglion Cells

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (28) ◽  
pp. 3057-3073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kobra B. Juybari ◽  
Azam Hosseinzadeh ◽  
Habib Ghaznavi ◽  
Mahboobeh Kamali ◽  
Ahad Sedaghat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optic Nerve ◽  
Mitochondrial Dysfunction ◽  
Signaling Pathways ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Nitrosative Stress ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Axon Growth ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Retinal Ganglion

Optic neuropathies refer to the dysfunction or degeneration of optic nerve fibers caused by any reasons including ischemia, inflammation, trauma, tumor, mitochondrial dysfunction, toxins, nutritional deficiency, inheritance, etc. Post-mitotic CNS neurons, including retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) intrinsically have a limited capacity for axon growth after either trauma or disease, leading to irreversible vision loss. In recent years, an increasing number of laboratory evidence has evaluated optic nerve injuries, focusing on molecular signaling pathways involved in RGC death. Trophic factor deprivation (TFD), inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, glutamate-induced excitotoxicity, ischemia, hypoxia, etc. have been recognized as important molecular mechanisms leading to RGC apoptosis. Understanding these obstacles provides a better view to find out new strategies against retinal cell damage. Melatonin, as a wide-spectrum antioxidant and powerful freeradical scavenger, has the ability to protect RGCs or other cells against a variety of deleterious conditions such as oxidative/nitrosative stress, hypoxia/ischemia, inflammatory processes, and apoptosis. In this review, we primarily highlight the molecular regenerative and degenerative mechanisms involved in RGC survival/death and then summarize the possible protective effects of melatonin in the process of RGC death in some ocular diseases including optic neuropathies. Based on the information provided in this review, melatonin may act as a promising agent to reduce RGC death in various retinal pathologic conditions.

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.

Development of cholinergic amacrine cell stratification in the ferret retina and the effects of early excitotoxic ablation

2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.E. REESE ◽  
M.A. RAVEN ◽  
K.A. GIANNOTTI ◽  
P.T. JOHNSON
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Amacrine Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Retinal Cell ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Outer Border ◽  
Cholinergic Amacrine Cells

The present study has examined the emergence of cholinergic stratification within the developing inner plexiform layer (IPL), and the effect of ablating the cholinergic amacrine cells on the formation of other stratifications within the IPL. The population of cholinergic amacrine cells in the ferret's retina was identified as early as the day of birth, but their processes did not form discrete strata until the end of the first postnatal week. As development proceeded over the next five postnatal weeks, so the positioning of the cholinergic strata shifted within the IPL toward the outer border, indicative of the greater ingrowth and elaboration of processes within the innermost parts of the IPL. To examine whether these cholinergic strata play an instructive role upon the development of other stratifications which form within the IPL, one-week-old ferrets were treated with l-glutamate in an attempt to ablate the population of cholinergic amacrine cells. Such treatment was shown to be successful, eliminating all of the cholinergic amacrine cells as well as the alpha retinal ganglion cells in the central retina. The remaining ganglion cell classes as well as a few other retinal cell types were partially reduced, while other cell types were not affected, and neither retinal histology nor areal growth was compromised in these ferrets. Despite this early loss of the cholinergic amacrine cells, which are eliminated within 24 h, other stratifications within the IPL formed normally, as they do following early elimination of the entire ganglion cell population. While these cholinergic amacrine cells are present well before other cell types have differentiated, apparently neither they, nor the ganglion cells, play a role in determining the depth of stratification for other retinal cell types.

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.

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