Spectral properties of cat horizontal cells

A comparative analysis of gene and protein expression in chronic and acute models of photoreceptor degeneration in adult zebrafish

Background: Adult zebrafish are capable of photoreceptor (PR) regeneration following acute phototoxic lesion (AL). We developed a chronic low light (CLL) exposure model that more accurately reflects chronic PR degeneration observed in many human retinal diseases. Methods: Here, we characterize the morphological and transcriptomic changes associated with acute and chronic models of PR degeneration at 8 time-points over a 28-day window using immunohistochemistry and 3'mRNA-seq. Results: We first observed a differential sensitivity of rod and cone PRs to CLL. Next, we found no evidence for Müller glia (MG) gliosis or regenerative cell-cycle re-entry in the CLL model, which is in contrast to the robust gliosis and proliferative response from resident MG in the AL model. Differential responses of microglia between the models was also observed. Transcriptomic comparisons between the models revealed gene-specific networks of PR regeneration and degeneration, including genes that are activated under conditions of chronic PR stress. Finally, we showed that CLL is at least partially reversible, allowing for rod and cone outer segment outgrowth and replacement of rod cell nuclei via an apparent upregulation of the existing rod neurogenesis mechanism. Discussion: Collectively, these data provide a direct comparison of the morphological and transcriptomic PR degeneration and regeneration models in zebrafish.

Strain variations in cone wavelength peaks in situ during zebrafish development

There are four cone morphologies in zebrafish, corresponding to UV (U), blue (B), green (G), and red (R)-sensing types; yet genetically, eight cone opsins are expressed. How eight opsins are physiologically siloed in four cone types is not well understood, and in larvae, cone physiological spectral peaks are unstudied. We use a spectral model to infer cone wavelength peaks, semisaturation irradiances, and saturation amplitudes from electroretinogram (ERG) datasets composed of multi-wavelength, multi-irradiance, aspartate-isolated, cone-PIII signals, as compiled from many 5- to 12-day larvae and 8- to 18-month-old adult eyes isolated from wild-type (WT) or roy orbison (roy) strains. Analysis suggests (in nm) a seven-cone, U-360/B1-427/B2-440/G1-460/G3-476/R1-575/R2-556, spectral physiology in WT larvae but a six-cone, U-349/B1-414/G3-483/G4-495/R1-572/R2-556, structure in WT adults. In roy larvae, there is a five-cone structure: U-373/B2-440/G1-460/R1-575/R2-556; in roy adults, there is a four-cone structure, B1-410/G3-482/R1-571/R2-556. Existence of multiple B, G, and R types is inferred from shifts in peaks with red or blue backgrounds. Cones were either high or low semisaturation types. The more sensitive, low semisaturation types included U, B1, and G1 cones [3.0–3.6 log(quanta·μm⁻²·s⁻¹)]. The less sensitive, high semisaturation types were B2, G3, G4, R1, and R2 types [4.3-4.7 log(quanta·μm⁻²·s⁻¹)]. In both WT and roy, U- and B- cone saturation amplitudes were greater in larvae than in adults, while G-cone saturation levels were greater in adults. R-cone saturation amplitudes were the largest (50–60% of maximal dataset amplitudes) and constant throughout development. WT and roy larvae differed in cone signal levels, with lesser UV- and greater G-cone amplitudes occurring in roy, indicating strain variation in physiological development of cone signals. These physiological measures of cone types suggest chromatic processing in zebrafish involves at least four to seven spectral signal processing pools.

Diverse Cell Types, Circuits, and Mechanisms for Color Vision in the Vertebrate Retina

Synaptic interactions to extract information about wavelength, and thus color, begin in the vertebrate retina with three classes of light-sensitive cells: rod photoreceptors at low light levels, multiple types of cone photoreceptors that vary in spectral sensitivity, and intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells that contain the photopigment melanopsin. When isolated from its neighbors, a photoreceptor confounds photon flux with wavelength and so by itself provides no information about color. The retina has evolved elaborate color opponent circuitry for extracting wavelength information by comparing the activities of different photoreceptor types broadly tuned to different parts of the visible spectrum. We review studies concerning the circuit mechanisms mediating opponent interactions in a range of species, from tetrachromatic fish with diverse color opponent cell types to common dichromatic mammals where cone opponency is restricted to a subset of specialized circuits. Distinct among mammals, primates have reinvented trichromatic color vision using novel strategies to incorporate evolution of an additional photopigment gene into the foveal structure and circuitry that supports high-resolution vision. Color vision is absent at scotopic light levels when only rods are active, but rods interact with cone signals to influence color perception at mesopic light levels. Recent evidence suggests melanopsin-mediated signals, which have been identified as a substrate for setting circadian rhythms, may also influence color perception. We consider circuits that may mediate these interactions. While cone opponency is a relatively simple neural computation, it has been implemented in vertebrates by diverse neural mechanisms that are not yet fully understood.

Color Processing in Zebrafish Retina

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a model organism for vertebrate developmental processes and, through a variety of mutant and transgenic lines, various diseases and their complications. Some of these diseases relate to proper function of the visual system. In the US, the National Eye Institute indicates >140 million people over the age of 40 have some form of visual impairment. The causes of the impairments range from refractive error to cataract, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, plus heritable diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and color vision deficits. Most impairments directly affect the retina, the nervous tissue at the back of the eye. Zebrafish with long or short-wavelength color blindness, altered retinal anatomy due to hyperglycemia, high intraocular pressure, and reduced pigment epithelium are all used, and directly applicable, to study how these symptoms affect visual function. However, many published reports describe only molecular/anatomical/structural changes or behavioral deficits. Recent work in zebrafish has documented physiological responses of the different cell types to colored (spectral) light stimuli, indicating a complex level of information processing and color vision in this species. The purpose of this review article is to consolidate published morphological and physiological data from different cells to describe how zebrafish retina is capable of complex visual processing. This information is compared to findings in other vertebrates and relevance to disorders affecting color processing is discussed.

Spectral responses in zebrafish horizontal cells include a tetraphasic response and a novel UV-dominated triphasic response

Zebrafish are tetrachromats with red (R, 570 nm), green (G, 480 nm), blue (B, 415 nm), and UV (U, 362 nm) cones. Although neurons in other cyprinid retinas are rich in color processing neural circuitry, spectral responses of individual neurons in zebrafish retina, a genetic model for vertebrate color vision, are yet to be studied. Using dye-filled sharp microelectrodes, horizontal cell voltage responses to light stimuli of different wavelengths and irradiances were recorded in a superfused eyecup. Spectral properties were assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Six spectral classes of horizontal cell were distinguished. Two monophasic response types (L1 and L2) hyperpolarized at all wavelengths. L1 sensitivities peaked at 493 nm, near the G cone absorbance maximum. Modeled spectra suggest equally weighted inputs from both R and G cones and, in addition, a "hidden opponency" from blue cones. These were classified as R-/G-/(b+). L2 sensitivities were maximal at 563 nm near the R cone absorbance peak; modeled spectra were dominated by R cones, with lesser G cone contributions. B and UV cone signals were small or absent. These are R-/g-. Four chromatic (C-type) horizontal cells were either depolarized (+) or hyperpolarized (-) depending on stimulus wavelength. These types are biphasic (R+/G-/B-) with peak excitation at 467 nm, between G and B cone absorbance peaks, UV triphasic (r-/G+/U-) with peak excitation at 362 nm similar to UV cones, and blue triphasic (r-/G+/B-/u-) and blue tetraphasic (r-/G+/B-/u+), with peak excitation at 409 and 411 nm, respectively, similar to B cones. UV triphasic and blue tetraphasic horizontal cell spectral responses are unique and were not anticipated in previous models of distal color circuitry in cyprinids.

Scotopic threshold responses to infrared irradiation in cats

Infrared (IR) irradiation is frequently used in ophthalmological diagnosis and treatment. It has been used to selectively stimulate photodiode-based retinal prostheses to prove their function. Data concerning the natural IR-sensitivity of the retina are contradictory. In our experiments in dark-adapted cats an IR-laser (826 nm) and IR emitting diodes (875 nm) elicited clear scotopic threshold responses. Comparison of the two lasers (IR and a visible laser at 670 nm) using Lambs template and our experimental data revealed very similar differences in retinal sensitivity (4.28 and 3.94+/-0.29 log units, respectively). The fact that the cat retina is sensitive to IR-irradiation under certain conditions has important implications in interpreting the results from retinal prostheses and rewards further attention in its use in many ophthalmological applications.

Stimulation of sodium pump restores membrane potential to neurons excited by glutamate in zebrafish distal retina

Glutamate either depolarizes or hyperpolarizes retinal neurons. Those are the initial and primary effects. Using a voltage probe (oxonol, DiBaC4 (5)) to study dissociated zebrafish retinal neurons, we find a secondary, longer-term effect: a post-excitatory restoration of membrane potential, termed after-hyperpolarization (AHP). AHP occurs only in neurons that are depolarized by glutamate and typically peaks about 5 min after glutamate application. AHP is seen in dissociated horizontal cells (HCs) and hyperpolarizing, or OFF type, bipolar cells (HBCs). These cells commonly respond with only an AHP component. AHP never occurs in depolarizing, or ON type, bipolar cells (DBCs), which are cell types hyperpolarized by glutamate. AHP is blocked by 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX). It is evoked by kainate, AMPA and the AMPA-selective agonist (S)-5-fluorowillardiine, but not by NMDA, D-aspartate, the kainate-selective agonist SYM 2081 or by DL-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (DL-AP4). Cells with exclusively AHP responses are tonically depolarized. Resting potentials can be restored by nifedipine, suggesting a tonic, depolarizing action of L-type Ca2+ channels. However AHP is not blocked by nifedipine and is insensitive to [Cl-]o. AHP is blocked by Li+o substitution for Na+o and by ouabain. A mechanism is proposed in which Na+ entering through ionotropic AMPA channels stimulates Na+,K+-ATPase, which, by electrogenic action, restores membrane potential, generating the AHP response. Patterns of ATPase immunoreactivity support localization in the outer plexiform layer (OPL) as cone pedicles, HCs and BCs were positively labelled. Labelling was weaker in the inner plexiform layer (IPL) than in nuclear layers, though two IPL bands of immunoreactive BC terminals could be discerned, one in sublamina a and the other in sublamina b. Persistent stimulation of distal retina by photoreceptor glutamate may induce increased expression and activity of Na+,K+-ATPase, with a consequent impact on distal glutamate responses.

Expression of the protein tyrosine phosphatase, phosphatase of regenerating liver 1, in the outer segments of primate cone photoreceptors

Foveal cone photoreceptors are morphologically distinct and, presumably, express unique transcripts. We have identified a cDNA clone encoding the protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP), phosphatase of regenerating liver 1 (PRL-1) in a screen for genes that are enriched in monkey fovea. PRL-1 was originally isolated as an immediate early gene in regenerating liver [R.H. Diamond, D.E. Cressman, T.M. Laz, C.S. Abrams, R. Taub, PRL-1, a unique nuclear protein tyrosine phosphatase, affects cell growth, Mol. Cell Biol. 14 (1994) 3752-3762]. On cDNA Southern blots of human and monkey retina, radiolabeled PRL-1 cDNA hybridized to a single mRNA species of about 2.5 kb that was most intense in fovea-enriched samples. The monkey PRL-1 deduced amino acid sequence is identical to human, rat and mouse PRL-1. Affinity-purified antibodies directed against PRL-1 preferentially labeled cone photoreceptor cells and a subpopulation of bipolar cells in monkey retina. Immunoreactivity in cones was confined to red and green, but not to blue, cones and was restricted to the outer segments. Immunolocalization also revealed that PRL-1 protein expression was non-nuclear, suggesting that its function in the retina may be unrelated to its role in other tissues where it is expressed primarily in nuclei. Although both foveal and extrafoveal cones were PRL-1 reactive, the high abundance of PRL-1 mRNAs detected in monkey fovea correlates with the high concentration of cones in the fovea. The PRL-1 gene is located on chromosome 6q within an interval that also contains the genes that cause two hereditary retinal dystrophies. These studies demonstrate novel expression of the PRL-1 gene in the neural retina and suggest the phosphatase activity of PRL-1 may modulate normal cone photoreceptor cell function.

Localization of type I inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor in the outer segments of mammalian cones

Calcium enters the outer segment of a vertebrate photoreceptor through a cGMP-gated channel and is extruded via a Na/Ca, K exchanger. We have identified another element in mammalian cones that might help to control cytoplasmic calcium. Reverse transcription-PCR performed on isolated photoreceptors identified mRNA for the SII- splice variant of the type I receptor for inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3), and Western blots showed that the protein also is expressed in outer segments. Immunocytochemistry showed type I IP3 receptor to be abundant in red-sensitive and green-sensitive cones of the trichromatic monkey retina, but it was negative or weakly expressed in blue-sensitive cones and rods. Similarly, the green-sensitive cones expressed the receptor in dichromatic retina (cat, rabbit, and rat), but the blue-sensitive cones did not. Immunostain was localized to disk and plasma membranes on the cytoplasmic face. To restore sensitivity after a light flash, cytoplasmic cGMP must rise to its basal level, and this requires cytoplasmic calcium to fall. Cessation of calcium release via the IP3 receptor might accelerate this fall and thus explain why the cone recovers much faster than the rod. Furthermore, because its own activity of the IP3 receptor depends partly on cytoplasmic calcium, the receptor might control the set point of cytoplasmic calcium and thus affect cone sensitivity.