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McCracken S, Fitzpatrick MJ, Hall AL, Wang Z, Kerschensteiner D, Morgan JL, Williams PR. Diversity in homeostatic calcium set points predicts retinal ganglion cell survival following optic nerve injury in vivo. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113165. [PMID: 37751356 PMCID: PMC10947246 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration drives vision loss in blinding conditions. RGC death is often triggered by axon degeneration in the optic nerve. Here, we study the contributions of dynamic and homeostatic Ca2+ levels to RGC death from axon injury. We find that axonal Ca2+ elevations from optic nerve injury do not propagate over distance or reach RGC somas, and acute and chronic Ca2+ dynamics do not affect RGC survival. Instead, we discover that baseline Ca2+ levels vary widely between RGCs and predict their survival after axon injury, and that lowering these levels reduces RGC survival. Further, we find that well-surviving RGC types have higher baseline Ca2+ levels than poorly surviving types. Finally, we observe considerable variation in the baseline Ca2+ levels of different RGCs of the same type, which are predictive of within-type differences in survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean McCracken
- John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Michael J Fitzpatrick
- John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Medical Scientist Training Program, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Allison L Hall
- John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Postbaccalaureate Program in Developmental Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Zelun Wang
- John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Medical Scientist Training Program, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Daniel Kerschensteiner
- John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Josh L Morgan
- John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Philip R Williams
- John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
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Bush RA, Tanikawa A, Zeng Y, Sieving PA. Cone ERG Changes During Light Adaptation in Two All-Cone Mutant Mice: Implications for Rod-Cone Pathway Interactions. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2019; 60:3680-3688. [PMID: 31469895 PMCID: PMC6716952 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.19-27242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose The b-wave of the cone ERG increases in amplitude and speed during the first few minutes of adaptation to a rod-suppressing background light. Earlier studies implicate rod pathway input to the cone pathway in these changes. Methods The timing and amplitude of the cone b-wave and isolated oscillatory potentials (OP) during the first 10 minutes of light adaptation in wild-type (WT) mice and two mutant lines without functional rods was examined: rhodopsin knockout (Rho-/-), lacking rod outer segments, and NRL knockout (Nrl-/-), in which rods are replaced by S-cones. Expression of the immediate-early gene c-fos, which is increased in the inner retina by light-induced activity, was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in dark- and light-adapted retinas. Results WT b-wave and OP amplitudes increased, and implicit times decreased during light adaptation. Subtracting OP did not alter b-wave changes. Rho-/- b-wave and OP amplitudes did not increase during adaptation. B-wave timing and amplitude and the timing of the major OP at 1 minute of adaptation were equivalent to WT at 10 minutes. The light-adapted ERG b-wave in Nrl-/- mice, which originates in both the rod and cone pathways, changed in absolute amplitude and timing similar to WT. C-fos expression was present in the inner retinas of dark-adapted Rho-/- but not WT or Nrl-/- mice. Conclusions Activity in the distal rod pathway produces changes in the cone ERG during light adaptation. Rods in Rho-/- mice constitutively activate this rod-cone pathway interaction. The rod pathway S-cones in Nrl-/- mice may maintain the WT interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald A Bush
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
| | - Atsuhiro Tanikawa
- Department of Ophthalmology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan
| | - Yong Zeng
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
| | - Paul A Sieving
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States.,National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
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Zhang Y, Williams PR, Jacobi A, Wang C, Goel A, Hirano AA, Brecha NC, Kerschensteiner D, He Z. Elevating Growth Factor Responsiveness and Axon Regeneration by Modulating Presynaptic Inputs. Neuron 2019; 103:39-51.e5. [PMID: 31122676 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.04.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2018] [Revised: 03/01/2019] [Accepted: 04/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Despite robust effects on immature neurons, growth factors minimally promote axon regeneration in the adult central nervous system (CNS). Attempting to improve growth-factor responsiveness in mature neurons by dedifferentiation, we overexpressed Lin28 in the retina. Lin28-treated retinas responded to insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) by initiating retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axon regeneration after axotomy. Surprisingly, this effect was cell non-autonomous. Lin28 expression was required only in amacrine cells, inhibitory neurons that innervate RGCs. Ultimately, we found that optic-nerve crush pathologically upregulated activity in amacrine cells, which reduced RGC electrical activity and suppressed growth-factor signaling. Silencing amacrine cells or pharmacologically blocking inhibitory neurotransmission also induced IGF1 competence. Remarkably, RGCs regenerating across these manipulations localized IGF1 receptor to their primary cilia, which maintained their signaling competence and regenerative ability. Thus, our results reveal a circuit-based mechanism that regulates CNS axon regeneration and implicate primary cilia as a regenerative signaling hub.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiling Zhang
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital, and Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Philip R Williams
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital, and Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
| | - Anne Jacobi
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital, and Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Chen Wang
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital, and Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Anurag Goel
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Arlene A Hirano
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; United States Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas C Brecha
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; United States Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Daniel Kerschensteiner
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Zhigang He
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital, and Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Hughes S, Rodgers J, Hickey D, Foster RG, Peirson SN, Hankins MW. Characterisation of light responses in the retina of mice lacking principle components of rod, cone and melanopsin phototransduction signalling pathways. Sci Rep 2016; 6:28086. [PMID: 27301998 PMCID: PMC4908426 DOI: 10.1038/srep28086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2016] [Accepted: 05/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Gnat(-/-), Cnga3(-/-), Opn4(-/-) triple knockout (TKO) mice lack essential components of phototransduction signalling pathways present in rods, cones and photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (pRGCs), and are therefore expected to lack all sensitivity to light. However, a number of studies have shown that light responses persist in these mice. In this study we use multielectrode array (MEA) recordings and light-induced c-fos expression to further characterise the light responses of the TKO retina. Small, but robust electroretinogram type responses are routinely detected during MEA recordings, with properties consistent with rod driven responses. Furthermore, a distinctive pattern of light-induced c-fos expression is evident in the TKO retina, with c-fos expression largely restricted to a small subset of amacrine cells that express disabled-1 (Dab1) but lack expression of glycine transporter-1 (GlyT-1). Collectively these data are consistent with the persistence of a novel light sensing pathway in the TKO retina that originates in rod photoreceptors, potentially a rare subset of rods with distinct functional properties, and which is propagated to an atypical subtype of AII amacrine cells. Furthermore, the minimal responses observed following UV light stimulation suggest only a limited role for the non-visual opsin OPN5 in driving excitatory light responses within the mouse retina.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Hughes
- The Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, OMPI G, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RE, UK
| | - Jessica Rodgers
- The Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, OMPI G, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RE, UK
| | - Doron Hickey
- The Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, OMPI G, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RE, UK
| | - Russell G Foster
- The Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, OMPI G, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RE, UK
| | - Stuart N Peirson
- The Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, OMPI G, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RE, UK
| | - Mark W Hankins
- The Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, OMPI G, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RE, UK
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Bertolesi GE, Hehr CL, McFarlane S. Wiring the retinal circuits activated by light during early development. Neural Dev 2014; 9:3. [PMID: 24521229 PMCID: PMC3937046 DOI: 10.1186/1749-8104-9-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2013] [Accepted: 01/23/2014] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Light information is sorted by neuronal circuits to generate image-forming (IF) (interpretation and tracking of visual objects and patterns) and non-image-forming (NIF) tasks. Among the NIF tasks, photic entrainment of circadian rhythms, the pupillary light reflex, and sleep are all associated with physiological responses, mediated mainly by a small group of melanopsin-expressing retinal ganglion cells (mRGCs). Using Xenopus laevis as a model system, and analyzing the c-fos expression induced by light as a surrogate marker of neural activity, we aimed to establish the developmental time at which the cells participating in both systems come on-line in the retina. Results We found that the peripheral retina contains 80% of the two melanopsin-expressing cell types we identified in Xenopus: melanopsin-expressing horizontal cells (mHCs; opn4m+/opn4x+/Prox1+) and mRGCs (2.7% of the total RGCs; opn4m+/opn4x+/Pax6+/Isl1), in a ratio of 6:1. Only mRGCs induced c-fos expression in response to light. Dopaminergic (tyrosine hydroxylase-positive; TH+) amacrine cells (ACs) may be part of the melanopsin-mediated circuit, as shown by preferential c-fos induction by blue light. In the central retina, two cell types in the inner nuclear layer (INL) showed light-mediated induction of c-fos expression [(On-bipolar cells (Otx2+/Isl1+), and a sub-population of ACs (Pax6−/Isl1−)], as well as two RGC sub-populations (Isl1+/Pax6+ and Isl1+/Pax6−). Melanopsin and opsin expression turned on a day before the point at which c-fos expression could first be activated by light (Stage 37/38), in cells of both the classic vision circuit, and those that participate in the retinal component of the NIF circuit. Key to the classic vision circuit is that the component cells engage from the beginning as functional ‘unit circuits’ of two to three cells in the INL for every RGC, with subsequent growth of the vision circuit occurring by the wiring in of more units. Conclusions We identified melanopsin-expressing cells and specific cell types in the INL and the RGC layer which induce c-fos expression in response to light, and we determined the developmental time when they become active. We suggest an initial formulation of retinal circuits corresponding to the classic vision pathway and melanopsin-mediated circuits to which they may contribute.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Sarah McFarlane
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Dr, NW, Health Sciences Building, Room 2164, Calgary AB T2N4N1, Canada.
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Pickard GE, Baver SB, Ogilvie MD, Sollars PJ. Light-induced fos expression in intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells in melanopsin knockout (opn4) mice. PLoS One 2009; 4:e4984. [PMID: 19319185 PMCID: PMC2655650 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2008] [Accepted: 02/24/2009] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Retinal ganglion cells that express the photopigment melanopsin are intrinsically photosensitive (ipRGCs) and exhibit robust synaptically driven ON-responses to light, yet they will continue to depolarize in response to light when all synaptic input from rod and cone photoreceptors is removed. The light-evoked increase in firing of classical ganglion cells is determined by synaptic input from ON-bipolar cells in the proximal sublamina of the inner plexiform layer. OFF-bipolar cells synapse with ganglion cell dendrites in the distal sublamina of the inner plexiform layer. Of the several types of ipRGC that have been described, M1 ipRGCs send dendrites exclusively into the OFF region of the inner plexiform layer where they stratify near the border of the inner nuclear layer. We tested whether M1 ipRGCs with dendrites restricted to the OFF sublamina of the inner plexiform layer receive synaptic ON-bipolar input by examining light-induced gene expression in vivo using melanopsin knockout mice. Mice in which both copies of the melanopsin gene (opn4) have been replaced with the tau-lacZ gene (homozygous tau-lacZ+/+ knockin mice) are melanopsin knockouts (opn4−/−) but M1 ipRGCs are specifically identified by their expression of β-galactosidase. Approximately 60% of M1 ipRGCs in Opn4−/− mice exposed to 3 hrs of light expressed c-Fos; no β-galactosidase-positive RGCs expressed c-Fos in the dark. Intraocular application of L-AP4, a compound which blocks transmission of visual signals between photoreceptors and ON-bipolar cells significantly reduced light-evoked c-Fos expression in M1 ipRGCs compared to saline injected eyes (66% saline vs 27% L-AP4). The results are the first description of a light-evoked response in an ipRGC lacking melanopsin and provide in vivo confirmation of previous in vitro observations illustrating an unusual circuit in the retina in which ganglion cells sending dendrites to the OFF sublamina of the inner plexiform layer receive excitatory synaptic input from ON-bipolar cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary E Pickard
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Neuroscience, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America.
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Intraretinal signaling by ganglion cell photoreceptors to dopaminergic amacrine neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2008; 105:14181-6. [PMID: 18779590 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0803893105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 203] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Retinal dopaminergic amacrine neurons (DA neurons) play a central role in reconfiguring retinal function according to prevailing illumination conditions, yet the mechanisms by which light regulates their activity are poorly understood. We investigated the means by which sustained light responses are evoked in DA neurons. Sustained light responses were driven by cationic currents and persisted in vitro and in vivo in the presence of L-AP4, a blocker of retinal ON-bipolar cells. Several characteristics of these L-AP4-resistant light responses suggested that they were driven by melanopsin-expressing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), including long latencies, marked poststimulus persistence, and a peak spectral sensitivity of 478 nm. Furthermore, sustained DA neuron light responses, but not transient DA neuron responses, persisted in rod/cone degenerate retinas, in which ipRGCs account for virtually all remaining retinal phototransduction. Thus, ganglion-cell photoreceptors provide excitatory drive to DA neurons, most likely by way of the coramification of their dendrites and the processes of DA neurons in the inner plexiform layer. This unprecedented centrifugal outflow of ganglion-cell signals within the retina provides a novel basis for the restructuring of retinal circuits by light.
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