Receptive fields of retinal bipolar cells are mediated by heterogeneous synaptic circuitry

A new role for excitation in the retinal direction-selective circuit

A key feature of the receptive field of neurons in the visual system is their centre-surround antagonism, whereby the centre and the surround exhibit responses of opposite polarity. This organization is thought to enhance visual acuity, but whether and how such antagonism plays a role in more complex processing remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the role of centre and surround receptive fields in retinal direction selectivity by exposing posterior-preferring On-Off direction-selective ganglion cells (pDSGCs) to adaptive light and recording their response to globally moving objects. We reveal that light adaptation leads to surround expansion in pDSGCs. The pDSGCs maintain their original directional tuning in the centre receptive field, but present the oppositely tuned response in their surround. Notably, although inhibition is the main substrate for retinal direction selectivity, we found that following light adaptation, both the centre- and surround-mediated responses originate from directionally tuned excitatory inputs. Multi-electrode array recordings show similar oppositely tuned responses in other DSGC subtypes. Together, these data attribute a new role for excitation in the direction-selective circuit. This excitation carries an antagonistic centre-surround property, possibly designed to sharpen the detection of motion direction in the retina. KEY POINTS: Receptive fields of direction-selective retinal ganglion cells expand asymmetrically following light adaptation. The increase in the surround receptive field generates a delayed spiking phase that is tuned to the null direction and is mediated by excitation. Following light adaptation, excitation rules the computation in the centre receptive field and is tuned to the preferred direction. GABAergic and glycinergic inputs modulate the null-tuned delayed response differentially. Null-tuned delayed spiking phases can be detected in all types of direction-selective retinal ganglion cells. Light adaptation exposes a hidden directional excitation in the circuit, which is tuned to opposite directions in the centre and surround receptive fields.

Linear and Nonlinear Behaviors of the Photoreceptor Coupled Network

Photoreceptors are electrically coupled to one another, and the spatiotemporal properties of electrical synapses in a two-dimensional retinal network are still not well studied, because of the limitation of the single electrode or pair recording techniques which do not allow simultaneously measuring responses of multiple photoreceptors at various locations in the retina. A multiple electrode recording system is needed. In this study, we investigate the network properties of the two-dimensional rod coupled array of the salamander retina (both sexes were used) by using the newly available multiple patch electrode system that allows simultaneous recordings from up to eight cells and to determine the electrical connectivity among multiple rods. We found direct evidence that voltage signal spread in the rod-rod coupling network in the absence of I h (mediated by HCN channels) is passive and follows the linear cable equation. Under physiological conditions, I h shapes the network signal by progressively shortening the response time-to-peak of distant rods, compensating the time loss of signal traveling from distant rods to bipolar cell somas and facilitating synchronization of rod output signals. Under voltage-clamp conditions, current flow within the coupled rods follows Ohm's law, supporting the idea that nonlinear behaviors of the rod network are dependent on membrane voltage. Rod-rod coupling is largely symmetrical in the 2D array, and voltage-clamp blocking the next neighboring rod largely suppresses rod signal spread into the second neighboring rod, suggesting that indirect coupling pathways play a minor role in rod-rod coupling.

Hierarchical retinal computations rely on hybrid chemical-electrical signaling

Bipolar cells (BCs) are integral to the retinal circuits that extract diverse features from the visual environment. They bridge photoreceptors to ganglion cells, the source of retinal output. Understanding how such circuits encode visual features requires an accounting of the mechanisms that control glutamate release from bipolar cell axons. Here, we demonstrate orientation selectivity in a specific genetically identifiable type of mouse bipolar cell-type 5A (BC5A). Their synaptic terminals respond best when stimulated with vertical bars that are far larger than their dendritic fields. We provide evidence that this selectivity involves enhanced excitation for vertical stimuli that requires gap junctional coupling through connexin36. We also show that this orientation selectivity is detectable postsynaptically in direction-selective ganglion cells, which were not previously thought to be selective for orientation. Together, these results demonstrate how multiple features are extracted by a single hierarchical network, engaging distinct electrical and chemical synaptic pathways.

Simulating the impact of photoreceptor loss and inner retinal network changes on electrical activity of the retina

Objective.A major reason for poor visual outcomes provided by existing retinal prostheses is the limited knowledge of the impact of photoreceptor loss on retinal remodelling and its subsequent impact on neural responses to electrical stimulation. Computational network models of the neural retina assist in the understanding of normal retinal function but can be also useful for investigating diseased retinal responses to electrical stimulation.Approach.We developed and validated a biophysically detailed discrete neuronal network model of the retina in the software package NEURON. The model includes rod and cone photoreceptors, ON and OFF bipolar cell pathways, amacrine and horizontal cells and finally, ON and OFF retinal ganglion cells with detailed network connectivity and neural intrinsic properties. By accurately controlling the network parameters, we simulated the impact of varying levels of degeneration on retinal electrical function.Main results.Our model was able to reproduce characteristic monophasic and biphasic oscillatory patterns seen in ON and OFF neurons during retinal degeneration (RD). Oscillatory activity occurred at 3 Hz with partial photoreceptor loss and at 6 Hz when all photoreceptor input to the retina was removed. Oscillations were found to gradually weaken, then disappear when synapses and gap junctions were destroyed in the inner retina. Without requiring any changes to intrinsic cellular properties of individual inner retinal neurons, our results suggest that changes in connectivity alone were sufficient to give rise to neural oscillations during photoreceptor degeneration, and significant network connectivity destruction in the inner retina terminated the oscillations.Significance.Our results provide a platform for further understanding physiological retinal changes with progressive photoreceptor and inner RD. Furthermore, our model can be used to guide future stimulation strategies for retinal prostheses to benefit patients at different stages of disease progression, particularly in the early and mid-stages of RD.

Classical center-surround receptive fields facilitate novel object detection in retinal bipolar cells

Antagonistic interactions between center and surround receptive field (RF) components lie at the heart of the computations performed in the visual system. Circularly symmetric center-surround RFs are thought to enhance responses to spatial contrasts (i.e., edges), but how visual edges affect motion processing is unclear. Here, we addressed this question in retinal bipolar cells, the first visual neuron with classic center-surround interactions. We found that bipolar glutamate release emphasizes objects that emerge in the RF; their responses to continuous motion are smaller, slower, and cannot be predicted by signals elicited by stationary stimuli. In our hands, the alteration in signal dynamics induced by novel objects was more pronounced than edge enhancement and could be explained by priming of RF surround during continuous motion. These findings echo the salience of human visual perception and demonstrate an unappreciated capacity of the center-surround architecture to facilitate novel object detection and dynamic signal representation.

Center-surround interactions underlie bipolar cell motion sensitivity in the mouse retina

Motion sensing is a critical aspect of vision. We studied the representation of motion in mouse retinal bipolar cells and found that some bipolar cells are radially direction selective, preferring the origin of small object motion trajectories. Using a glutamate sensor, we directly observed bipolar cells synaptic output and found that there are radial direction selective and non-selective bipolar cell types, the majority being selective, and that radial direction selectivity relies on properties of the center-surround receptive field. We used these bipolar cell receptive fields along with connectomics to design biophysical models of downstream cells. The models and additional experiments demonstrated that bipolar cells pass radial direction selective excitation to starburst amacrine cells, which contributes to their directional tuning. As bipolar cells provide excitation to most amacrine and ganglion cells, their radial direction selectivity may contribute to motion processing throughout the visual system.

Form-deprivation myopia downregulates calcium levels in retinal horizontal cells in mice

The process of eye axis lengthening in myopic eyes is regulated by multiple mechanisms in the retina, and horizontal cells (HCs) are an essential interneuron in the visual regulatory system. Wherein intracellular Ca²⁺ plays an important role in the events involved in the regulatory role of HCs in the retinal neural network. It is unknown if intracellular Ca²⁺ regulation in HCs mediates changes in the retinal neural network during myopia progression. We describe here a novel calcium fluorescence indicator system that monitors HCs' intracellular Ca²⁺ levels during form-deprivation myopia (FDM) in mice. AAV injection of GCaMP6s, as a protein calcium sensor, into a Gja10-Cre mouse monitored the changes in Ca²⁺signaling in HC that accompany FDM progression in mice. An alternative Gja10-Cre/Ai96-GCaMP6s mouse model was created by cross mating Gja10-Cre with Ai96 mice. Immunofluorescence imaging and live imaging of the retinal cells verified the identity of these animal models. Changes in retinal horizontal cellular Ca²⁺ levels were resolved during FDM development. The numbers of GCaMP6s and the proportion of HCs were tracked based on profiling changes in GCaMP6s⁺calbindin⁺/calbindin⁺ coimmunostaining patterns. They significantly decreased more after either two days (P < 0.01) or two weeks (P < 0.001) in form deprived eyes than in the untreated fellow eyes. These decreases in their proportion reached significance only in the retinal central region rather than also in the retinal periphery. A novel approach employing a GCaMP6s mouse model was developed that may ultimately clarify if HCs mediate Ca²⁺ signals that contribute to controlling FDM progression in mice. The results indicate so far that FDM progression is associated with declines in HC Ca²⁺ signaling activity.

Spatiotemporal properties of glutamate input support direction selectivity in the dendrites of retinal starburst amacrine cells

The asymmetric summation of kinetically distinct glutamate inputs across the dendrites of retinal 'starburst' amacrine cells is one of the several mechanisms that have been proposed to underlie their direction-selective properties, but experimentally verifying input kinetics has been a challenge. Here, we used two-photon glutamate sensor (iGluSnFR) imaging to directly measure the input kinetics across individual starburst dendrites. We found that signals measured from proximal dendrites were relatively sustained compared to those measured from distal dendrites. These differences were observed across a range of stimulus sizes and appeared to be shaped mainly by excitatory rather than inhibitory network interactions. Temporal deconvolution analysis suggests that the steady-state vesicle release rate was ~3 times larger at proximal sites compared to distal sites. Using a connectomics-inspired computational model, we demonstrate that input kinetics play an important role in shaping direction selectivity at low stimulus velocities. Taken together, these results provide direct support for the 'space-time wiring' model for direction selectivity.

Dual-Cell Patch-Clamp Recording Revealed a Mechanism for a Ribbon Synapse to Process Both Digital and Analog Inputs and Outputs

A chemical synapse is either an action potential (AP) synapse or a graded potential (GP) synapse but not both. This study investigated how signals passed the glutamatergic synapse between the rod photoreceptor and its postsynaptic hyperpolarizing bipolar cells (HBCs) and light responses of retinal neurons with dual-cell and single-cell patch-clamp recording techniques. The results showed that scotopic lights evoked GPs in rods, whose depolarizing Phase 3 associated with the light offset also evoked APs of a duration of 241.8 ms and a slope of 4.5 mV/ms. The depolarization speed of Phase 3 (Speed) was 0.0001–0.0111 mV/ms and 0.103–0.469 mV/ms for rods and cones, respectively. On pairs of recorded rods and HBCs, only the depolarizing limbs of square waves applied to rods evoked clear currents in HBCs which reversed at −6.1 mV, indicating cation currents. We further used stimuli that simulated the rod light response to stimulate rods and recorded the rod-evoked excitatory current (rdEPSC) in HBCs. The normalized amplitude (R/R_max), delay, and rising slope of rdEPSCs were differentially exponentially correlated with the Speed (all p < 0.001). For the Speed < 0.1 mV/ms, R/R_max grew while the delay and duration reduced slowly; for the Speed between 0.1 and 0.4 mV/ms, R/R_max grew fast while the delay and duration dramatically decreased; for the Speed > 0.4 mV/ms, R/R_max reached the plateau, while the delay and duration approached the minimum, resembling digital signals. The rdEPSC peak was left-shifted and much faster than currents in rods. The scotopic-light-offset-associated major and minor cation currents in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the gigantic excitatory transient currents (GTECs) in HBCs, and APs and Phase 3 in rods showed comparable light-intensity-related locations. The data demonstrate that the rod-HBC synapse is a perfect synapse that can differentially decode and code analog and digital signals to process enormously varied rod and coupled-cone inputs.

Antagonistic surround responses in different cones are mediated by feedback synapses from different horizontal cells

Cone photoreceptors are the first neurons along the visual pathway that exhibit center-surround antagonistic receptive fields, the basic building blocks for spatial information processing in the visual system. The surround responses in cones are mediated by the horizontal cells (HCs) via multiple feedback synaptic mechanisms. It has been controversial on which mechanisms are responsible for the surround-elicited depolarizing responses in cones (ΔVCone(s)), and whether the surround responses of various types of cones are mediated by the same HC feedback mechanisms. In this report, we studied ΔVCone(s)) of four types of cones in the salamander retina, and found that they are mediated by feedback synapses from A-type, B-type or A- and B-type HCs. ΔVCone(s) are observable in the presence of concomitant center light spots, and surround + center light stimuli of various intensity, size and wavelength differentially activate the feedback synapses from A- and B-type HCs to cones. We found that ΔVCone(s) of the L-cones are mediated by both A- and B-type HCs, those of the P- and S-cones by B-type HCs, and those of the A-cones by the A-type HCs. Moreover, our results suggest that B-type HCs mediate ΔVCone(s) through both GABAergic and GluT-ClC feedback synaptic mechanisms, and A-type HCs mediate ΔVCone(s) via the GluT-ClC feedback mechanism. Feedback synaptic mechanisms that increase calcium influx in cone synaptic terminals play important roles in mediating the antagonistic surround responses in the postsynaptic bipolar cells, but they may not generate enough current to depolarize the cones and significantly contribute to ΔVCone(s).

Differential Contribution of Gap Junctions to the Membrane Properties of ON- and OFF-Bipolar Cells of the Rat Retina

Gap junctions are ubiquitous within the retina, but in general, it remains to be determined whether gap junction coupling between specific cell types is sufficiently strong to mediate functionally relevant coupling via electrical synapses. From ultrastructural, tracer coupling and immunolabeling studies, there is clear evidence for gap junctions between cone bipolar cells, but it is not known if these gap junctions function as electrical synapses. Here, using whole-cell voltage-clamp recording in rat (male and female) retinal slices, we investigated whether the gap junctions of bipolar cells make a measurable contribution to the membrane properties of these cells. We measured the input resistance (RN) of bipolar cells before and after applying meclofenamic acid (MFA) to block gap junctions. In the presence of MFA, RN of ON-cone bipolar cells displayed a clear increase, paralleled by block of the electrical coupling between these cells and AII amacrine cells in recordings of coupled cell pairs. For OFF-cone and rod bipolar cells, RN did not increase in the presence of MFA. The results for rod bipolar cells are consistent with the lack of gap junctions in these cells. However, for OFF-cone bipolar cells, our results suggest that the morphologically identified gap junctions between these cells do not support a junctional conductance that is sufficient to mediate effective electrical coupling. Instead, these junctions might play a role in chemical and/or metabolic coupling between subcellular compartments.

Influence of Aging on the Retina and Visual Motion Processing for Optokinetic Responses in Mice

The decline in visual function due to normal aging impacts various aspects of our daily lives. Previous reports suggest that the aging retina exhibits mislocalization of photoreceptor terminals and reduced amplitudes of scotopic and photopic electroretinogram (ERG) responses in mice. These abnormalities are thought to contribute to age-related visual impairment; however, the extent to which visual function is impaired by aging at the organismal level is unclear. In the present study, we focus on the age-related changes of the optokinetic responses (OKRs) in visual processing. Moreover, we investigated the initial and late phases of the OKRs in young adult (2-3 months old) and aging mice (21-24 months old). The initial phase was evaluated by measuring the open-loop eye velocity of OKRs using sinusoidal grating patterns of various spatial frequencies (SFs) and moving at various temporal frequencies (TFs) for 0.5 s. The aging mice exhibited initial OKRs with a spatiotemporal frequency tuning that was slightly different from those in young adult mice. The late-phase OKRs were investigated by measuring the slow-phase velocity of the optokinetic nystagmus evoked by sinusoidal gratings of various spatiotemporal frequencies moving for 30 s. We found that optimal SF and TF in the normal aging mice are both reduced compared with those in young adult mice. In addition, we measured the OKRs of 4.1G-null (4.1G ^-/-) mice, in which mislocalization of photoreceptor terminals is observed even at the young adult stage. We found that the late phase OKR was significantly impaired in 4.1G ^{- / -} mice, which exhibit significantly reduced SF and TF compared with control mice. These OKR abnormalities observed in 4.1G ^{- / -} mice resemble the abnormalities found in normal aging mice. This finding suggests that these mice can be useful mouse models for studying the aging of the retinal tissue and declining visual function. Taken together, the current study demonstrates that normal aging deteriorates to visual motion processing for both the initial and late phases of OKRs. Moreover, it implies that the abnormalities of the visual function in the normal aging mice are at least partly due to mislocalization of photoreceptor synapses.

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.

Dopamine D1 receptor activation reduces local inner retinal inhibition to light-adapted levels

During adaptation from dim to bright environments, changes in retinal signaling are mediated, in part, by dopamine. Dopamine is released with light and can modulate retinal receptive fields, neuronal coupling, inhibitory receptors, and rod pathway inhibition. However, it is unclear how dopamine affects inner retinal inhibition to cone bipolar cells, which relay visual information from photoreceptors to ganglion cells and are important signal processing sites. We tested the hypothesis that dopamine (D)1 receptor activation is sufficient to elicit light-adapted inhibitory changes. Local light-evoked inhibition and spontaneous activity were measured from OFF cone bipolar cells in dark-adapted mouse retinas while stimulating D1 receptors, which are located on bipolar, horizontal, and inhibitory amacrine cells. The D1 agonist SKF38393 reduced local inhibitory light-evoked response magnitude and increased response transience, which mimicked changes measured with light adaptation. D1-mediated reductions in local inhibition were more pronounced for glycinergic than GABAergic inputs, comparable with light adaptation. The effects of D1 receptors on light-evoked input were similar to the effects on spontaneous input. D1 receptor activation primarily decreased glycinergic spontaneous current frequency, similar to light adaptation, suggesting mainly a presynaptic amacrine cell site of action. These results expand the role of dopamine to include signal modulation of cone bipolar cell local inhibition. In this role, D1 receptor activation, acting primarily through glycinergic amacrine cells, may be an important mechanism for the light-adapted reduction in OFF bipolar cell inhibition since the actions are similar and dopamine is released during light adaptation. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Retinal adaptation to different luminance conditions requires the adjustment of local circuits for accurate signaling of visual scenes. Understanding mechanisms behind luminance adaptation at different retinal levels is important for understanding how the retina functions in a dynamic environment. In the mouse, we show that dopamine pathways reduce inner retinal inhibition similar to increased background luminance, suggesting the two are linked and highlighting a possible mechanism for light adaptation at an early retinal processing center.

Mild Intraocular Pressure Elevation in Mice Reveals Distinct Retinal Ganglion Cell Functional Thresholds and Pressure-Dependent Properties

Elevation of intraocular pressure (IOP) causes retinal ganglion cell (RGC) dysfunction and death and is a major risk factor for glaucoma. We used a bead injection technique to increase IOP in mice of both genders by an average of ∼3 mmHg for 2 weeks. This level of IOP elevation was lower than that achieved in other studies, which allowed for the study of subtle IOP effects. We used multielectrode array recordings to determine the cellular responses of RGCs exposed to this mild degree of IOP elevation. We found that RGC photopic receptive field (RF) center size and whole-field RGC firing rates were unaffected by IOP elevation. In contrast, we found that the temporal properties of RGC photopic responses in the RF center were accelerated, particularly in ON sustained cells. We also detected a loss of antagonistic surround in several RGC subtypes. Finally, spontaneous firing rate, interspike interval variance, and contrast sensitivity were altered according to the magnitude of IOP exposure and also displayed an IOP-dependent effect. Together, these results suggest that individual RGC physiologic parameters have unique IOP-related functional thresholds that exist concurrently and change following IOP elevation according to specific patterns. Furthermore, even subtle IOP elevation can impart profound changes in RGC function, which in some cases may occur in an IOP-dependent manner. This system of overlapping functional thresholds likely underlies the complex effects of elevated IOP on the retina.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the obligate output neurons of the retina and are injured by elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in diseases such as glaucoma. In this study, a subtle elevation of IOP in mice for 2 weeks revealed distinct IOP-related functional thresholds for specific RGC physiologic parameters and sometimes showed an IOP-dependent effect. These data suggest that overlapping IOP-related thresholds and response profiles exist simultaneously in RGCs and throughout the retina. These overlapping thresholds likely explain the range of RGC responses that occur following IOP elevation and highlight the wide capacity of neurons to respond in a diseased state.

Synaptic Convergence Patterns onto Retinal Ganglion Cells Are Preserved despite Topographic Variation in Pre- and Postsynaptic Territories

Sensory processing can be tuned by a neuron's integration area, the types of inputs, and the proportion and number of connections with those inputs. Integration areas often vary topographically to sample space differentially across regions. Here, we highlight two visual circuits in which topographic changes in the postsynaptic retinal ganglion cell (RGC) dendritic territories and their presynaptic bipolar cell (BC) axonal territories are either matched or unmatched. Despite this difference, in both circuits, the proportion of inputs from each BC type, i.e., synaptic convergence between specific BCs and RGCs, remained constant across varying dendritic territory sizes. Furthermore, synapse density between BCs and RGCs was invariant across topography. Our results demonstrate a wiring design, likely engaging homotypic axonal tiling of BCs, that ensures consistency in synaptic convergence between specific BC types onto their target RGCs while enabling independent regulation of pre- and postsynaptic territory sizes and synapse number between cell pairs.

Receptive field center-surround interactions mediate context-dependent spatial contrast encoding in the retina

Antagonistic receptive field surrounds are a near-universal property of early sensory processing. A key assumption in many models for retinal ganglion cell encoding is that receptive field surrounds are added only to the fully formed center signal. But anatomical and functional observations indicate that surrounds are added before the summation of signals across receptive field subunits that creates the center. Here, we show that this receptive field architecture has an important consequence for spatial contrast encoding in the macaque monkey retina: the surround can control sensitivity to fine spatial structure by changing the way the center integrates visual information over space. The impact of the surround is particularly prominent when center and surround signals are correlated, as they are in natural stimuli. This effect of the surround differs substantially from classic center-surround models and raises the possibility that the surround plays unappreciated roles in shaping ganglion cell sensitivity to natural inputs.

Dopamine Regulation of GABAA Receptors Contributes to Light/Dark Modulation of the ON-Cone Bipolar Cell Receptive Field Surround in the Retina

Cone bipolar cells are interneurons that receive synaptic input from cone photoreceptor cells and provide the output of the first synaptic layer of the retina. These cells exhibit center-surround receptive fields, a prototype of lateral inhibition between neighboring sensory cells in which stimulation of the receptive field center excites the cell whereas stimulation of the surrounding region laterally inhibits the cell. This fundamental sensory coding mechanism facilitates spatial discrimination and detection of stimulus edges. However, although it is well established that the receptive field surround is strongest when ambient or background illumination is most intense, e.g., at midday, and that the surround is minimal following maintained darkness, the synaptic mechanisms that produce and modulate the surround have not been resolved. Using electrical recording of bipolar cells under experimental conditions in which the cells exhibited surround light responses, and light and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry, we show in the rabbit retina that bright-light-induced activation of dopamine D₁ receptors located on ON-center cone bipolar cell dendrites increases the expression and activity of GABA_A receptors on the dendrites of the cells and that surround light responses depend on endogenous GABA_A receptor activation. We also show that maintained darkness and D₁ receptor blockade following maintained illumination and D₁ receptor activation result in minimal GABA_A receptor expression and activity and greatly diminished surrounds. Modulation of the D₁/GABA_A receptor signaling pathway of ON-cBC dendrites by the ambient light level facilitates detection of spatial details on bright days and large dim objects on moonless nights.

The Transduction Cascade in Retinal ON-Bipolar Cells: Signal Processing and Disease

Our robust visual experience is based on the reliable transfer of information from our photoreceptor cells, the rods and cones, to higher brain centers. At the very first synapse of the visual system, information is split into two separate pathways, ON and OFF, which encode increments and decrements in light intensity, respectively. The importance of this segregation is borne out in the fact that receptive fields in higher visual centers maintain a separation between ON and OFF regions. In the past decade, the molecular mechanisms underlying the generation of ON signals have been identified, which are unique in their use of a G-protein signaling cascade. In this review, we consider advances in our understanding of G-protein signaling in ON-bipolar cell (BC) dendrites and how insights about signaling have emerged from visual deficits, mostly night blindness. Studies of G-protein signaling in ON-BCs reveal an intricate mechanism that permits the regulation of visual sensitivity over a wide dynamic range.

Neural Circuit Inference from Function to Structure

Advances in technology are opening new windows on the structural connectivity and functional dynamics of brain circuits. Quantitative frameworks are needed that integrate these data from anatomy and physiology. Here, we present a modeling approach that creates such a link. The goal is to infer the structure of a neural circuit from sparse neural recordings, using partial knowledge of its anatomy as a regularizing constraint. We recorded visual responses from the output neurons of the retina, the ganglion cells. We then generated a systematic sequence of circuit models that represents retinal neurons and connections and fitted them to the experimental data. The optimal models faithfully recapitulated the ganglion cell outputs. More importantly, they made predictions about dynamics and connectivity among unobserved neurons internal to the circuit, and these were subsequently confirmed by experiment. This circuit inference framework promises to facilitate the integration and understanding of big data in neuroscience.

Light adaptation alters inner retinal inhibition to shape OFF retinal pathway signaling

The retina adjusts its signaling gain over a wide range of light levels. A functional result of this is increased visual acuity at brighter luminance levels (light adaptation) due to shifts in the excitatory center-inhibitory surround receptive field parameters of ganglion cells that increases their sensitivity to smaller light stimuli. Recent work supports the idea that changes in ganglion cell spatial sensitivity with background luminance are due in part to inner retinal mechanisms, possibly including modulation of inhibition onto bipolar cells. To determine how the receptive fields of OFF cone bipolar cells may contribute to changes in ganglion cell resolution, the spatial extent and magnitude of inhibitory and excitatory inputs were measured from OFF bipolar cells under dark- and light-adapted conditions. There was no change in the OFF bipolar cell excitatory input with light adaptation; however, the spatial distributions of inhibitory inputs, including both glycinergic and GABAergic sources, became significantly narrower, smaller, and more transient. The magnitude and size of the OFF bipolar cell center-surround receptive fields as well as light-adapted changes in resting membrane potential were incorporated into a spatial model of OFF bipolar cell output to the downstream ganglion cells, which predicted an increase in signal output strength with light adaptation. We show a prominent role for inner retinal spatial signals in modulating the modeled strength of bipolar cell output to potentially play a role in ganglion cell visual sensitivity and acuity.

Physiological and morphological characterization of ganglion cells in the salamander retina

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) integrate visual information from the retina and transmit collective signals to the brain. A systematic investigation of functional and morphological characteristics of various types of RGCs is important to comprehensively understand how the visual system encodes and transmits information via various RGC pathways. This study evaluated both physiological and morphological properties of 67 RGCs in dark-adapted flat-mounted salamander retina by examining light-evoked cation and chloride current responses via voltage-clamp recordings and visualizing morphology by Lucifer yellow fluorescence with a confocal microscope. Six groups of RGCs were described: asymmetrical ON-OFF RGCs, symmetrical ON RGCs, OFF RGCs, and narrow-, medium- and wide-field ON-OFF RGCs. Dendritic field diameters of RGCs ranged 102-490 μm: narrow field (<200 μm, 31% of RGCs), medium field (200-300 μm, 45%) and wide field (>300 μm, 24%). Dendritic ramification patterns of RGCs agree with the sublamina A/B rule. 34% of RGCs were monostratified, 24% bistratified and 42% diffusely stratified. 70% of ON RGCs and OFF RGCs were monostratified. Wide-field RGCs were diffusely stratified. 82% of RGCs generated light-evoked ON-OFF responses, while 11% generated ON responses and 7% OFF responses. Response sensitivity analysis suggested that some RGCs obtained separated rod/cone bipolar cell inputs whereas others obtained mixed bipolar cell inputs. 25% of neurons in the RGC layer were displaced amacrine cells. Although more types may be defined by more refined classification criteria, this report is to incorporate more physiological properties into RGC classification.

Functional Circuitry of the Retina

The mammalian retina is an important model system for studying neural circuitry: Its role in sensation is clear, its cell types are relatively well defined, and its responses to natural stimuli-light patterns-can be studied in vitro. To solve the retina, we need to understand how the circuits presynaptic to its output neurons, ganglion cells, divide the visual scene into parallel representations to be assembled and interpreted by the brain. This requires identifying the component interneurons and understanding how their intrinsic properties and synapses generate circuit behaviors. Because the cellular composition and fundamental properties of the retina are shared across species, basic mechanisms studied in the genetically modifiable mouse retina apply to primate vision. We propose that the apparent complexity of retinal computation derives from a straightforward mechanism-a dynamic balance of synaptic excitation and inhibition regulated by use-dependent synaptic depression-applied differentially to the parallel pathways that feed ganglion cells.

Role of the mouse retinal photoreceptor ribbon synapse in visual motion processing for optokinetic responses

The ribbon synapse is a specialized synaptic structure in the retinal outer plexiform layer where visual signals are transmitted from photoreceptors to the bipolar and horizontal cells. This structure is considered important in high-efficiency signal transmission; however, its role in visual signal processing is unclear. In order to understand its role in visual processing, the present study utilized Pikachurin-null mutant mice that show improper formation of the photoreceptor ribbon synapse. We examined the initial and late phases of the optokinetic responses (OKRs). The initial phase was examined by measuring the open-loop eye velocity of the OKRs to sinusoidal grating patterns of various spatial frequencies moving at various temporal frequencies for 0.5 s. The mutant mice showed significant initial OKRs with a spatiotemporal frequency tuning (spatial frequency, 0.09 ± 0.01 cycles/°; temporal frequency, 1.87 ± 0.12 Hz) that was slightly different from the wild-type mice (spatial frequency, 0.11 ± 0.01 cycles/°; temporal frequency, 1.66 ± 0.12 Hz). The late phase of the OKRs was examined by measuring the slow phase eye velocity of the optokinetic nystagmus induced by the sinusoidal gratings of various spatiotemporal frequencies moving for 30 s. We found that the optimal spatial and temporal frequencies of the mutant mice (spatial frequency, 0.11 ± 0.02 cycles/°; temporal frequency, 0.81 ± 0.24 Hz) were both lower than those in the wild-type mice (spatial frequency, 0.15 ± 0.02 cycles/°; temporal frequency, 1.93 ± 0.62 Hz). These results suggest that the ribbon synapse modulates the spatiotemporal frequency tuning of visual processing along the ON pathway by which the late phase of OKRs is mediated.

Elevated intraocular pressure decreases response sensitivity of inner retinal neurons in experimental glaucoma mice

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the United States and the world, characterized by progressive degeneration of the optic nerve and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Glaucoma patients exhibit an early diffuse loss of retinal sensitivity followed by focal loss of RGCs in sectored patterns. Recent evidence has suggested that this early sensitivity loss may be associated with dysfunctions in the inner retina, but detailed cellular and synaptic mechanisms underlying such sensitivity changes are largely unknown. In this study, we use whole-cell voltage-clamp techniques to analyze light responses of individual bipolar cells (BCs), AII amacrine cells (AIIACs), and ON and sustained OFF alpha-ganglion cells (ONαGCs and sOFFαGCs) in dark-adapted mouse retinas with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). We present evidence showing that elevated IOP suppresses the rod ON BC inputs to AIIACs, resulting in less sensitive AIIACs, which alter AIIAC inputs to ONαGCs via the AIIAC→cone ON BC→ONαGC pathway, resulting in lower ONαGC sensitivity. The altered AIIAC response also reduces sOFFαGC sensitivity via the AIIAC→sOFFαGC chemical synapses. These sensitivity decreases in αGCs and AIIACs were found in mice with elevated IOP for 3-7 wk, a stage when little RGC or optic nerve degeneration was observed. Our finding that elevated IOP alters neuronal function in the inner retina before irreversible structural damage occurs provides useful information for developing new diagnostic tools and treatments for glaucoma in human patients.

Roles of ON cone bipolar cell subtypes in temporal coding in the mouse retina

In the visual system, diverse image processing starts with bipolar cells, which are the second-order neurons of the retina. Thirteen subtypes of bipolar cells have been identified, which are thought to encode different features of image signaling and to initiate distinct signal-processing streams. Although morphologically identified, the functional roles of each bipolar cell subtype in visual signal encoding are not fully understood. Here, we investigated how ON cone bipolar cells of the mouse retina encode diverse temporal image signaling. We recorded bipolar cell voltage changes in response to two different input functions: sinusoidal light and step light stimuli. Temporal tuning in ON cone bipolar cells was diverse and occurred in a subtype-dependent manner. Subtypes 5s and 8 exhibited low-pass filtering property in response to a sinusoidal light stimulus, and responded with sustained fashion to step-light stimulation. Conversely, subtypes 5f, 6, 7, and XBC exhibited bandpass filtering property in response to sinusoidal light stimuli, and responded transiently to step-light stimuli. In particular, subtypes 7 and XBC were high-temporal tuning cells. We recorded responses in different ways to further examine the underlying mechanisms of temporal tuning. Current injection evoked low-pass filtering, whereas light responses in voltage-clamp mode produced bandpass filtering in all ON bipolar cells. These findings suggest that cone photoreceptor inputs shape bandpass filtering in bipolar cells, whereas intrinsic properties of bipolar cells shape low-pass filtering. Together, our results demonstrate that ON bipolar cells encode diverse temporal image signaling in a subtype-dependent manner to initiate temporal visual information-processing pathways.

Ionotropic GABA Receptors and Distal Retinal ON and OFF Responses

In the vertebrate retina, visual signals are segregated into parallel ON and OFF pathways, which provide information for light increments and decrements. The segregation is first evident at the level of the ON and OFF bipolar cells in distal retina. The activity of large populations of ON and OFF bipolar cells is reflected in the b- and d-waves of the diffuse electroretinogram (ERG). The role of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), acting through ionotropic GABA receptors in shaping the ON and OFF responses in distal retina, is a matter of debate. This review summarized current knowledge about the types of the GABAergic neurons and ionotropic GABA receptors in the retina as well as the effects of GABA and specific GABAA and GABAC receptor antagonists on the activity of the ON and OFF bipolar cells in both nonmammalian and mammalian retina. Special emphasis is put on the effects on b- and d-waves of the ERG as a useful tool for assessment of the overall function of distal retinal ON and OFF channels. The role of GABAergic system in establishing the ON-OFF asymmetry concerning the time course and absolute and relative sensitivity of the ERG responses under different conditions of light adaptation in amphibian retina is also discussed.

The projective field of retinal bipolar cells and its modulation by visual context

The receptive field of a sensory neuron spells out all the receptor inputs it receives. To understand a neuron's role in the circuit, one also needs to know its projective field, namely the outputs it sends to all downstream cells. Here we present the projective fields of the primary excitatory neurons in a sensory circuit. We stimulated single bipolar cells of the salamander retina and recorded simultaneously from a population of ganglion cells. Individual bipolar cell signals diverge through polysynaptic pathways into ganglion cells of many different types and over surprisingly large distance. However, the strength and polarity of the projection depend on the cell types involved. Furthermore, visual stimulation strongly modulates the bipolar cell projective field, in opposite direction for different cell types. In this way, the context from distant parts of the visual field can control the routing of signals in the inner retina.

GABAergic lateral interactions tune the early stages of visual processing in Drosophila

Early stages of visual processing must capture complex, dynamic inputs. While peripheral neurons often implement efficient encoding by exploiting natural stimulus statistics, downstream neurons are specialized to extract behaviorally relevant features. How do these specializations arise? We use two-photon imaging in Drosophila to characterize a first-order interneuron, L2, that provides input to a pathway specialized for detecting moving dark edges. GABAergic interactions, mediated in part presynaptically, create an antagonistic and anisotropic center-surround receptive field. This receptive field is spatiotemporally coupled, applying differential temporal processing to large and small dark objects, achieving significant specialization. GABAergic circuits also mediate OFF responses and balance these with responses to ON stimuli. Remarkably, the functional properties of L2 are strikingly similar to those of bipolar cells, yet emerge through different molecular and circuit mechanisms. Thus, evolution appears to have converged on a common strategy for processing visual information at the first synapse.

Paired-pulse plasticity in the strength and latency of light-evoked lateral inhibition to retinal bipolar cell terminals

Synapses in the inner plexiform layer of the retina undergo short-term plasticity that may mediate different forms of adaptation to regularities in light stimuli. Using patch-clamp recordings from axotomized goldfish Mb bipolar cell (BC) terminals with paired-pulse light stimulation, we isolated and quantified the short-term plasticity of GABAergic lateral IPSCs (L-IPSCs). Bright light stimulation evoked ON and OFF L-IPSCs in axotomized BCs, which had distinct onset latencies (∼50-80 and ∼70-150 ms, respectively) that depended on background light adaptation. We observed plasticity in both the synaptic strength and latency of the L-IPSCs. With paired light stimulation, latencies of ON L-IPSCs increased at paired-pulse intervals (PPIs) of 50 and 300 ms, whereas OFF L-IPSC latencies decreased at the 300 ms PPI. ON L-IPSCs showed paired-pulse depression at intervals <1 s, whereas OFF L-IPSCs showed depression at intervals ≤1 s and amplitude facilitation at longer intervals (1-2 s). This biphasic form of L-IPSC plasticity may underlie adaptation and sensitization to surround temporal contrast over multiple timescales. Block of retinal signaling at GABA(A)Rs and AMPARs differentially affected ON and OFF L-IPSCs, confirming that these two types of feedback inhibition are mediated by distinct and convergent retinal pathways with different mechanisms of plasticity. We propose that these plastic changes in the strength and timing of L-IPSCs help to dynamically shape the time course of glutamate release from ON-type BC terminals. Short-term plasticity of L-IPSCs may thus influence the strength, timing, and spatial extent of amacrine and ganglion cell inhibitory surrounds.

Divergence of visual channels in the inner retina

Bipolar cells form parallel channels that carry visual signals from the outer to the inner retina. Each type of bipolar cell is thought to carry a distinct visual message to select types of amacrine cells and ganglion cells. However, the number of ganglion cell types exceeds that of the bipolar cells providing their input, suggesting that bipolar cell signals diversify on transmission to ganglion cells. We explored in the salamander retina how signals from individual bipolar cells feed into multiple ganglion cells and found that each bipolar cell was able to evoke distinct responses among ganglion cells, differing in kinetics, adaptation and rectification properties. This signal divergence resulted primarily from interactions with amacrine cells that allowed each bipolar cell to send distinct signals to its target ganglion cells. Our findings indicate that individual bipolar cell-ganglion cell connections have distinct transfer functions. This expands the number of visual channels in the inner retina and enhances the computational power and feature selectivity of early visual processing.

Lateral interactions in the outer retina

Lateral interactions in the outer retina, particularly negative feedback from horizontal cells to cones and direct feed-forward input from horizontal cells to bipolar cells, play a number of important roles in early visual processing, such as generating center-surround receptive fields that enhance spatial discrimination. These circuits may also contribute to post-receptoral light adaptation and the generation of color opponency. In this review, we examine the contributions of horizontal cell feedback and feed-forward pathways to early visual processing. We begin by reviewing the properties of bipolar cell receptive fields, especially with respect to modulation of the bipolar receptive field surround by the ambient light level and to the contribution of horizontal cells to the surround. We then review evidence for and against three proposed mechanisms for negative feedback from horizontal cells to cones: 1) GABA release by horizontal cells, 2) ephaptic modulation of the cone pedicle membrane potential generated by currents flowing through hemigap junctions in horizontal cell dendrites, and 3) modulation of cone calcium currents (I(Ca)) by changes in synaptic cleft proton levels. We also consider evidence for the presence of direct horizontal cell feed-forward input to bipolar cells and discuss a possible role for GABA at this synapse. We summarize proposed functions of horizontal cell feedback and feed-forward pathways. Finally, we examine the mechanisms and functions of two other forms of lateral interaction in the outer retina: negative feedback from horizontal cells to rods and positive feedback from horizontal cells to cones.

Ionotropic glutamate receptors mediate OFF responses in light-adapted ON bipolar cells

Previous studies have suggested that photoreceptor synaptic inputs to depolarizing bipolar cells (DBCs or ON bipolar cells) are mediated by mGluR6 receptors and those to hyperpolarizing bipolar cells (HBCs or OFF bipolar cells) are mediated by AMPA/kainate receptors. Here we show that in addition to mGluR6 receptors which mediate the sign-inverting, depolarizing light responses, subpopulations of cone-dominated and rod/cone mixed DBCs use GluR4 AMPA receptors to generate a transient sign-preserving OFF response under light adapted conditions. These AMPA receptors are located at the basal junctions postsynaptic to rods and they are silent under dark-adapted conditions, as tonic glutamate release in darkness desensitizes these receptors. Light adaptation enhances rod-cone coupling and thus allows cone photocurrents with an abrupt OFF depolarization to enter the rods. The abrupt rod depolarization triggers glutamate activation of unoccupied AMPA receptors, resulting in a transient OFF response in DBCs. It has been widely accepted that the DNQX-sensitive, OFF transient responses in retinal amacrine cells and ganglion cells are mediated exclusively by HBCs. Our results suggests that this view needs revision as AMPA receptors in subpopulations of DBCs are likely to significantly contribute to the DNQX-sensitive OFF transient responses in light-adapted third- and higher-order visual neurons.

Adaptation-dependent synchronous activity contributes to receptive field size change of bullfrog retinal ganglion cell

Nearby retinal ganglion cells of similar functional subtype have a tendency to discharge spikes in synchrony. The synchronized activity is involved in encoding some aspects of visual input. On the other hand, neurons always continuously adjust their activities in adaptation to some features of visual stimulation, including mean ambient light, contrast level, etc. Previous studies on adaptation were primarily focused on single neuronal activity, however, it is also intriguing to investigate the adaptation process in population neuronal activities. In the present study, by using multi-electrode recording system, we simultaneously recorded spike discharges from a group of dimming detectors (OFF-sustained type ganglion cells) in bullfrog retina. The changes in receptive field properties and synchronization strength during contrast adaptation were analyzed. It was found that, when perfused using normal Ringer's solution, single neuronal receptive field size was reduced during contrast adaptation, which was accompanied by weakening in synchronization strength between adjacent neurons' activities. When dopamine (1 µM) was applied, the adaptation-related receptive field area shrinkage and synchronization weakening were both eliminated. The activation of D1 receptor was involved in the adaptation-related modulation of synchronization and receptive field. Our results thus suggest that the size of single neuron's receptive field is positively related to the strength of its synchronized activity with its neighboring neurons, and the dopaminergic pathway is responsible for the modulation of receptive field property and synchronous activity of the ganglion cells during the adaptation process.

Light-evoked lateral GABAergic inhibition at single bipolar cell synaptic terminals is driven by distinct retinal microcircuits

Inhibitory amacrine cells (ACs) filter visual signals crossing the retina by modulating the excitatory, glutamatergic output of bipolar cells (BCs) on multiple temporal and spatial scales. Reciprocal feedback from ACs provides focal inhibition that is temporally locked to the activity of presynaptic BC activity, whereas lateral feedback originates from ACs excited by distant BCs. These distinct feedback mechanisms permit temporal and spatial computation at BC terminals. Here, we used a unique preparation to study light-evoked IPSCs recorded from axotomized terminals of ON-type mixed rod/cone BCs (Mb) in goldfish retinal slices. In this preparation, light-evoked IPSCs could only reach axotomized BC terminals via the lateral feedback pathway, allowing us to study lateral feedback in the absence of overlapping reciprocal feedback components. We found that light evokes ON and OFF lateral IPSCs (L-IPSCs) in Mb terminals having different temporal patterns and conveyed via distinct retinal pathways. The relative contribution of rods versus cones to ON and OFF L-IPSCs was light intensity dependent. ACs presynaptic to Mb BC terminals received inputs via AMPA/KA- and NMDA-type receptors in both the ON and OFF pathways, and used TTX-sensitive sodium channels to boost signal transfer along their processes. ON and OFF L-IPSCs, like reciprocal feedback IPSCs, were mediated by both GABA(A) and GABA(C) receptors. However, our results suggest that lateral and reciprocal feedback do not cross-depress each other, and are therefore mediated by distinct populations of ACs. These findings demonstrate that retinal inhibitory circuits are highly specialized to modulate BC output at different light intensities.

Characterization of Trpm1 desensitization in ON bipolar cells and its role in downstream signalling

ON bipolar cells invert the sign of light responses from hyperpolarizing to depolarizing before passing them on to ganglion cells. Light responses are generated when a cation channel, recently identified as Trpm1, opens. The amplitude of the light response rapidly decays due to desensitization of Trpm1 current. The role of Trpm1 desensitization in shaping light responses both in bipolar and downstream ganglion cells has not been well characterized. Here we show that two parameters, the amount and the rate of recovery from desensitization, depend on the strength of the presynaptic stimulus. Stimuli that activate less than 20% of the maximum Trpm1 current did not promote any detectable desensitization, even for prolonged periods. Beyond this threshold there was a linear relationship between the amount of desensitization and the fractional Trpm1 current. In response to stimuli that open all available channels, desensitization reduced the response to approximately 40% of the peak, with a time constant of 1 s, and recovery was slow, with a time constant of more than 20 s. In dye-filled bipolar cells classified as transient or sustained using morphological criteria, there were no significant differences in Trpm1 desensitization parameters. Trpm1 activation evoked robust EPSCs in ganglion cells, and removal of Trpm1 desensitization strongly augmented a sustained component of the ganglion cell EPSC irrespective of whether ganglion cells were of the ON or ON/OFF type. We conclude that Trpm1 desensitization impacts the kinetics of ganglion cell EPSCs, but does not underlie the sustained/transient dichotomy of neurons in the ON pathway.

Amacrine-to-amacrine cell inhibition: Spatiotemporal properties of GABA and glycine pathways

We measured the spatial and temporal properties of GABAergic and glycinergic inhibition to amacrine cells in the whole-mount rabbit retina. The amacrine cells were parsed into two morphological classes: narrow-field cells with processes spreading less than 200 μm and wide-field cells with processes extending more than 300 μm. The inhibition was also parsed into two types: sustained glycine and transient GABA. Narrow-field amacrine cells receive 1) very transient GABAergic inhibition with a fast onset latency of 140 ± 16 ms decaying to 30% of the peak level within 208 ± 27 ms elicited broadly over a lateral distance of up to 1500 μm and 2) sustained glycinergic inhibition with a medium onset latency of 286 ± 23 ms that was elicited over a spatial area often broader than the processes of the narrow-field amacrine cells. Wide-field amacrine cells received sustained glycinergic inhibition but no broad transient GABAergic inhibition. Surprisingly, neither of these amacrine cell classes received sustained local GABAergic inhibition, commonly found in an earlier study of ganglion cells.

Intravitreal homocysteine-thiolactone injection leads to the degeneration of multiple retinal cells, including photoreceptors

PURPOSE

Hyperhomocysteinemia is known to cause degeneration of retinal ganglion cells, but its influence on photoreceptors remains largely unknown. In particular, the role of homocysteine-thiolactone (Hcy-T)--the physiologic metabolite of homocysteine that has been proven to be more cytotoxic than homocysteine itself--as a factor that causes retinopathy, has not been defined. This study aimed to investigate the toxic effects of excessive Hcy-T in a mouse model.

METHODS

A total of 60 six-week-old female ICR mice were used in this study. The mice were divided into 3 experimental groups and 2 control groups. The mice in the experimental groups were subjected to intravitreal injections of Hcy-T to reach final estimated intravitreal concentrations at 5, 25, and 200 μM, respectively. Mice without injection (blank) and with 0.9 NaCl injections (sham injection) were used as controls. The mice with 200 μM Hcy-T were sacrificed at days 7, 15, 45, and 90 after injection and the mice with 5 or 25 μM Hcy-T were sacrificed at day 90, with the controls sacrificed at day 15 or 90 for comparison. Semi-quantitative dot-blot analysis was performed for confirmation of retinal homocysteinylation. The mouse retinas were evaluated microscopically, with the thickness of total and specific retinal layers determined. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed and the labeled cells were quantified to determine the effects of excessive Hcy-T on specific retinal cells.

RESULTS

Dose-dependent retinal homocysteinylation after Hcy-T injection was confirmed. The homocysteinylation was localized in the outer and inner segments of photoreceptors and the ganglion cell layer (GCL). Retinal cell degenerations were found in the GCL, inner nuclear layer, and outer nuclear layer at day 90 after 200 µM Hcy-T injection. Significant thickness reduction was found in the total retina, outer nuclear layer, and the outer and inner segment layers. A trend of thickness reduction was also found in the GCL and inner nuclear layer, although this was not statistically significant. The rhodopsin⁺ photoreceptors and the calbindin⁺ horizontal cells were significantly reduced at day 15, and were nearly ablated at day 90 after 200 μM Hcy-T injection (p<0.001 for both day 15 and day 90), which was not seen in the sham injection controls. The Chx-10⁺ or the Islet-1⁺ bipolar cells and the Pax-6⁺ amacrine cells were severely misarranged at day 90, but no significant reduction was found for both cell types. The GFAP⁺ Müller cells were activated at day 15, but were not significantly increased at day 90 after the injection.

CONCLUSIONS

Excessive retinal homocysteinylation by Hcy-T, a condition of hyperhomocysteinemia, could lead to degeneration of photoreceptors, which might lead to retinopathies associated with severe hyperhomocysteinemia or diabetes mellitus.

Focus on vision: 3 decades of remarkable contributions to biology and medicine

The FASEB Journal is a pillar among biomedical publications, contributing greatly by disseminating the results of vision research during its lifetime. Progress over this period has been remarkable. George Wald provided the first chemical understanding of the fundamental processes governing vision: the photoisomerization of 11-cis-retinal to all-trans-retinal and the enzymatic regeneration of this chromophore. Contributions of this extraordinary scientist set the stage for discoveries ranging from gross recording of various electrical responses to light to elucidation of signal transduction at a structural level, and from characterization of retinal diseases to successful treatments.

An intrinsic neural oscillator in the degenerating mouse retina

The loss of photoreceptors during retinal degeneration (RD) is known to lead to an increase in basal activity in remnant neural networks. To identify the source of activity, we combined two-photon imaging with patch-clamp techniques to examine the physiological properties of morphologically identified retinal neurons in a mouse model of RD (rd1). Analysis of activity in rd1 ganglion cells revealed sustained oscillatory (∼10 Hz) synaptic activity in ∼30% of all classes of cells. Oscillatory activity persisted after putative inputs from residual photoreceptor, rod bipolar cell, and inhibitory amacrine cell synapses were pharmacologically blocked, suggesting that presynaptic cone bipolar cells were intrinsically active. Examination of presynaptic rd1 ON and OFF bipolar cells indicated that they rested at relatively negative potentials (less than -50 mV). However, in approximately half the cone bipolar cells, low-amplitude membrane oscillation (∼5 mV, ∼10 Hz) were apparent. Such oscillations were also observed in AII amacrine cells. Oscillations in ON cone bipolar and AII amacrine cells exhibited a weak apparent voltage dependence and were resistant to blockade of synaptic receptors, suggesting that, as in wild-type retina, they form an electrically coupled network. In addition, oscillations were insensitive to blockers of voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels (0.5 mm Cd(2+) and 0.5 mm Ni(2+)), ruling out known mechanisms that underlie oscillatory behavior in bipolar cells. Together, these results indicate that an electrically coupled network of ON cone bipolar/AII amacrine cells constitutes an intrinsic oscillator in the rd1 retina that is likely to drive synaptic activity in downstream circuits.

Center/surround organization of retinal bipolar cells: High correlation of fundamental responses of center and surround to sinusoidal contrasts

Receptive field organization of cone-driven bipolar cells was investigated by intracellular recording in the intact light-adapted retina of the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum). Centered spots and concentric annuli of optimum dimensions were used to selectively stimulate the receptive field center and surround with sinusoidal modulations of contrast at 3 Hz. At low contrasts, responses of both the center and surround of both ON and OFF bipolar cells were linear, showing high gain and thus contrast enhancement relative to cones. The contrast/response curves for the fundamental response, measured by a Fast Fourier Transform, reached half maximum amplitude quickly at 13% contrast followed by saturation at high contrasts. The variation of the normalized amplitude of the center and surround responses was remarkably similar, showing linear regression over the entire response range with very high correlations, r2 = 0.97 for both ON and OFF cells. The contrast/response curves of both center and surround for both ON and OFF cells were well fit (r2 = 0.98) by an equation for single-site binding. In about half the cells studied, the nonlinear waveforms of center and surround could be brought into coincidence by scaling and shifting the surround response in time. This implies that a nonlinearity, common to both center and surround, occurs after polarity inversion at the cone feedback synapse. Evidence from paired whole-cell recordings between single cones and OFF bipolar cells suggests that substantial nonlinearity is not due to transmission at the cone synapse but instead arises from intrinsic bipolar cell and network mechanisms. When sinusoidal contrast modulations were applied to the center and surround simultaneously, clear additivity was observed for small responses in both ON and OFF cells, whereas the interaction was strikingly nonadditive for large responses. The contribution of the surround was then greatly reduced, suggesting attenuation at the cone feedback synapse.

Fine spatial information represented in a population of retinal ganglion cells

Detailed measurement of ganglion cell receptive fields often reveals significant deviations from a smooth, Gaussian profile. We studied the effect of these irregularities on the representation of fine spatial information in the retina. We recorded from nearby clusters of ganglion cells, testing their ability to determine the location of small flashed spots, and we compared the results to the prediction of a Gaussian receptive field model derived from reverse correlation. Despite considerable receptive field overlap, almost all ganglion cell pairs signaled nearly independently. For groups of five cells with highly overlapping receptive fields, the measured light-evoked currents encoded ∼33% more information than predicted by the Gaussian receptive field model. Including measured local irregularities in the receptive field model increased performance to the level observed experimentally. These results suggest that instead of being an unavoidable defect, irregularities may be a positive design feature of population neural codes.

NMDA receptor contributions to visual contrast coding

In the retina, it is not well understood how visual processing depends on AMPA- and NMDA-type glutamate receptors. Here we investigated how these receptors contribute to contrast coding in identified guinea pig ganglion cell types in vitro. NMDA-mediated responses were negligible in ON alpha cells but substantial in OFF alpha and delta cells. OFF delta cell NMDA receptors were composed of GluN2B subunits. Using a novel deconvolution method, we determined the individual contributions of AMPA, NMDA, and inhibitory currents to light responses of each cell type. OFF alpha and delta cells used NMDA receptors for encoding either the full contrast range (alpha), including near-threshold responses, or only a high range (delta). However, contrast sensitivity depended substantially on NMDA receptors only in OFF alpha cells. NMDA receptors contribute to visual contrast coding in a cell-type-specific manner. Certain cell types generate excitatory responses using primarily AMPA receptors or disinhibition.

Immunocytochemical evidence for SNARE protein-dependent transmitter release from guinea pig horizontal cells

Horizontal cells are lateral interneurons that participate in visual processing in the outer retina but the cellular mechanisms underlying transmitter release from these cells are not fully understood. In non-mammalian horizontal cells, GABA release has been shown to occur by a non-vesicular mechanism. However, recent evidence in mammalian horizontal cells favors a vesicular mechanism as they lack plasmalemmal GABA transporters and some soluble NSF attachment protein receptor (SNARE) core proteins have been identified in rodent horizontal cells. Moreover, immunoreactivity for GABA and the molecular machinery to synthesize GABA have been found in guinea pig horizontal cells, suggesting that if components of the SNARE complex are expressed they could contribute to the vesicular release of GABA. In this study we investigated whether these vesicular and synaptic proteins are expressed by guinea pig horizontal cells using immunohistochemistry with well-characterized antibodies to evaluate their cellular distribution. Components of synaptic vesicles including vesicular GABA transporter, synapsin I and synaptic vesicle protein 2A were localized to horizontal cell processes and endings, along with the SNARE core complex proteins, syntaxin-1a, syntaxin-4 and synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25). Complexin I/II, a cytosolic protein that stabilizes the activated SNARE fusion core, strongly immunostained horizontal cell soma and processes. In addition, the vesicular Ca(2+)-sensor, synaptotagmin-2, which is essential for Ca(2+)-mediated vesicular release, was also localized to horizontal cell processes and somata. These morphological findings from guinea pig horizontal cells suggest that mammalian horizontal cells have the capacity to utilize a regulated Ca(2+)-dependent vesicular pathway to release neurotransmitter, and that this mechanism may be shared among many mammalian species.

Responses and receptive fields of amacrine cells and ganglion cells in the salamander retina

Retinal amacrine cells (ACs) and ganglion cells (GCs) have been shown to display large morphological diversity, and here we show that four types of ACs and three types of GCs exhibit physiologically-distinguishable properties. They are the sustained ON ACs; sustained OFF ACs; transient ON-OFF ACs; transient ON-OFF ACs with wide receptive fields; sustained ON-center/OFF-surround GCs; sustained OFF-center/ON-surround GCs and transient ON-OFF GCs. By comparing response waveforms, receptive fields and relative rod/cone inputs of ACs and GCs with the corresponding parameters of various types of the presynaptic bipolar cells (BCs), we analyze how different types of BCs mediate synaptic inputs to various ACs and GCs. Although more types of third-order retinal neurons may be identified by more refined classification criteria, our observations suggest that many morphologically-distinct ACs and GCs share very similar physiological responses.

Interneuron circuits tune inhibition in retinal bipolar cells

While connections between inhibitory interneurons are common circuit elements, it has been difficult to define their signal processing roles because of the inability to activate these circuits using natural stimuli. We overcame this limitation by studying connections between inhibitory amacrine cells in the retina. These interneurons form spatially extensive inhibitory networks that shape signaling between bipolar cell relay neurons to ganglion cell output neurons. We investigated how amacrine cell networks modulate these retinal signals by selectively activating the networks with spatially defined light stimuli. The roles of amacrine cell networks were assessed by recording their inhibitory synaptic outputs in bipolar cells that suppress bipolar cell output to ganglion cells. When the amacrine cell network was activated by large light stimuli, the inhibitory connections between amacrine cells unexpectedly depressed bipolar cell inhibition. Bipolar cell inhibition elicited by smaller light stimuli or electrically activated feedback inhibition was not suppressed because these stimuli did not activate the connections between amacrine cells. Thus the activation of amacrine cell circuits with large light stimuli can shape the spatial sensitivity of the retina by limiting the spatial extent of bipolar cell inhibition. Because inner retinal inhibition contributes to ganglion cell surround inhibition, in part, by controlling input from bipolar cells, these connections may refine the spatial properties of the retinal output. This functional role of interneuron connections may be repeated throughout the CNS.