The neural retina develops from an epithelia of undifferentiated cells into a stratified structure with a highly organized appearance and several different types of cells. While the morphological description of the retina is relatively detailed, very little is known about the cellular interactions and biochemical events that result in the retina's normal development. One of the major reasons for this is that techniques that allow the identification of specific cell types and the purification of these populations have not been available. As a result, many in vivo and in vitro experiments designed to address developmental questions are presently impossible to perform or interpret. Recently, monoclonal antibody technology has been used to produce specific markers for ganglion cells, photoreceptors, and Muller cells. It is important to continue this approach and to develop antibodies against the remaining classes of cells in the retina; amacrine cells, bipolar cells, horizontal cells and interplexiform cells. The goal of this study is to produce monclonal antibodies against specific classes of cells in the retina, with a special emphasis on antibodies that bind to cell surface molecules. The developmental history of the antigens to which these antibodies bind will be determined by conducting immunohistochemical experiments. The antibodies will then be used to purify specific classes of cells using either cytotoxic methods or affinity purifications procedures. Once purified populations of cells have been obtained, it will then be possible to design experiments where different classes of cells are recombined for use in tissue culture and transplant experiments aimed at a better understanding of the diffrentiation of the retina.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 28 publications
